Captured
by tinnie75
Summary: AU - Cristina Yang is a young, talented and ambitious photographer who seems to have everything going for her. But there's something missing, that special someone to share it with. At her first photography exhibition a handsome artist captures her attention, but is he the one she's been looking for…?
1. Chapter 1

**I know I promised this story to many of you a long time ago and I'm sorry it took me so long. But first chapter is finally here so I hope you all will enjoy it. :)**

**Big thanks go to my awesome beta Jess and also to all those people who encouraged me to write.**

* * *

"Mer, wait!" Cristina shouted as she hurried down the hall of the Seattle Metropolitan magazine after Meredith.

"Oh, Cristina, hi," Meredith greeted her with a smile, looking up from the papers she was holding in her hand. "What are you doing here? I thought it's your day off today."

"It is, but I had to grab something I left here yesterday." She handed Meredith the black paper she had been carrying with her. "And I also had to invite my person to my big exhibition this Saturday, right?" She said as a big genuine smile appeared on her face.

In bold, golden letters, the card read: _Cristina Yang invites you to her first photography exhibition this Saturday at Seattle's Art Gallery._Meredith read the text from the invitation card and smiled when she saw how excited her friend was. Cristina had been working as a photographer in a popular magazine for almost three years, but this was her first big exhibition. She had been preparing for it for a very long time and the closer it got, the more nervous she became. "This looks amazing. I'm pretty sure it will be a big success," Meredith said with a huge smile. If they both weren't the totally anti-hugging types, they probably would've hugged. But since they were, they only smiled at each other.

"I hope so. I'm getting more and more nervous every minute," Cristina admitted, biting her lower lip while shifting from one foot to another. She never used to be the type of woman who would get anxious easily, but this was the first time she could show her photos to so many people, including other famous photographers. Well, if they decided to come.

"You don't have to worry about anything. People love your photos." Meredith tried to calm down her best friend, slightly stroking her arm, but it apparently wasn't working.

"I know. I know. I'm just so uneasy. Anything can go wrong. I only invited you and Derek, Mark and Lexie and Alex and Izzie. What if nobody else comes? I mean… I invited some other photographers, but it doesn't mean they'll come. And what if it ends up being a total fiasco? It'll be so embarrassing." Cristina's breath was getting more and more erratic as she thought about everything that could go wrong. Shehad put a lot of effort into it, but now, just a few days before it was supposed to happen, she was becoming insecure about the whole thing.

"Of course others will come. You're an amazing photographer. People love you. Just stop freaking out," Meredith said as she grabbed her best friend's shoulders, shaking her a little. "There will be a lot of famous photographers and you have to be confident. You don't wanna embarrass yourself, right?" Meredith asked, knowing that mocking her friend a little could only help.

"Okay, okay. It's gonna be fine," Cristina tried to calm herself, taking a few deep breaths.

"What about Owen? Aren't you going to invite him?" Meredith asked suddenly, when she remembered their colleague and editor in chief of Seattle Metropolitan.

"I... I don't know. Probably no." Cristina shook her head a little hesitantly. She already considered inviting him a few times, but still wasn't really sure about it. Things between them were a little strange and she didn't want them to feel awkward if she invited him.

"Why? I thought your first date went quite well," Meredith said, not understanding why Cristina decided not to invite their colleague to her exhibition.

"It wasn't bad. We just... didn't click. He is a really nice guy, but the sparkle wasn't there. And I think it would be awkward if I invited him." She shrugged dismissively. "I don't wanna give him false hope when I know there probably won't be a second date."

"So you're looking for a 'sparkle guy'?" Meredith laughed a little. She never thought Cristina would be a looking for a 'sparkle kind of guy', but she always managed to surprise her. Meredith also knew how picky Cristina was when it came to men. Many men were interested in her, but few actually got a chance to go on date with her. And even less got a second date. But Meredith couldn't blame her friend. Cristina knew what she wanted and she wouldn't be satisfied until she found it. And this sentiment didn't only apply to men.

"I just want someone who makes me laugh, who isn't afraid to make inappropriate jokes on our first date and who won't be able to take his eyes off me. Do I want too much?" Cristina asked and let out a deep sigh. She didn't want to give up on her demands, but the closer she got to her thirties, the more afraid she was. What if she was never going tofind the right guy? What if she was too picky? Those were the questions that kept her mind occupied more often than they should.

"Maybe not. If I found my guy, so can you. One day you'll meet him," she tried to reassure her as she thought of her husband Derek. It took her a long time to find someone like him, but it was definitely worth the wait.

"But what if I already met him but rejected him? What if I was too picky and threw away my last chance to be happy?"

"Are you talking about Owen?"

"Maybe. I don't know." Cristina shrugged, looking rather glum. She always told herself that she didn't need a guy to be happy, but the fact was it would be nice to have someone by her side."Maybe I just didn't give him a chance. He might be a really nice guy. He's just... not perfect. But who is?"

"I thought you didn't want to ease up from your demands." Meredith grinned.

"I don't. But maybe I have to," she sighed and pulled out another invitation card she had with her. "And if the exhibition ends in a fiasco, he'll run away on his own."

They both started to laugh when Meredith noticed the time on the big clock that hung at the end of the hall. "Oh, no. I gotta go," she said, rather irked about having to end the conversation. "I still have to finish my article about dangerous toys." Meredith rolled her eyes as she remembered the boring work she had yet to do. "See you later. And don't scare him," she laughed and then walked away.

_This might be your last chance, Cristina. Don't screw it up, _Cristina thought to herself, ready to find Owen.

* * *

**I hope you liked the first chapter and will come next week for another one. Reviews are appreciated :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**First of all I want to thank you for all those wonderful reviews you wrote for the first chapter. I really appreciate it :) Hope you will like the second chapter at least as much as the previous one and leave a comment about what you think of it. See you again in two weeks :)**

* * *

A few days passed and Cristina was already getting ready for her exhibition. She has always been a perfectionist and of course, this time was no exception. Every little detail had to be perfect. Even though the exhibition was about her photos, she had to take care of drinks, music and many other things to make her guests comfortable. She was still really nervous, thinking nobody important would come, but after Meredith reassured her for the millionth time, telling her it would be a big success, Cristina calmed down a little.

Another person who was feeling really nervous about the exhibition was Jackson Avery. The first time he saw Cristina's photos was about six months ago. He was waiting outside the dentist's office, reading through all the magazines he found there, when he suddenly spotted an article with some beautiful photos next to it. The title said something about animals in Africa, but that wasn't important for him. However, the images of gazelles in the sunset caught his attention immediately. He also looked through other photos, admiring how simple, yet interesting they looked. Jackson was an artist too, so he really knew how to appreciate good work. And this work was excellent. He checked the name of the photographer on the bottom of the page, taking a mental note to find more photos belonging to this artist that he didn't know of this, for him unknown artist. He definitely wanted to see more. Jackson really quickly became a fan of Cristina's work and was always pleasantly surprised when he found out something more about her.

One Monday morning, he was reading daily newspaper when he noticed a short article, saying: _Cristina Yang invites you to her first photography exhibition this Saturday at Seattle's Art Gallery._ He immediately recognized the name and knew, that there was no way he would miss that exhibition. Luckily for him it was going to happen in the same city where he lived, Seattle. Before he closed the newspaper, ready to go look for a suit he could wear for that occasion he noticed small black and white photo of Cristina underneath that article. She looked beautiful. Dark curly hair was framing her pretty face and made Jackson's heart skip a beat. He thought he was crazy, because even though he never met her he felt something for her. Whether it was platonic or not.

And now, there he was. In the middle of the room, where Cristina's exhibition was taking place. He was amazed by all the beautiful and interesting photos around him, but most excited about the possibility of meeting Cristina in person. He had been her work for a few months now and talking to her would be an excellent experience. Just a few steps away from him he saw a couple who was obviously in a good mood and decided to ask them, if they knew anything about Cristina coming to the exhibition.

"Oh, hey," he started a little hesitantly, as he walked towards them. "Do you know if Cristina Yang, the photographer is coming here tonight?"

"I'm pretty sure she's already here somewhere," the young woman answered with a small smile. "Are you a fan of hers?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that." Jackson nodded and smiled. "I'm Jackson Avery by the way," he introduced himself and extended his hand to shake.

"I'm Meredith Grey and this is my husband Derek," she said, pointing to Derek and then they both shook Jackson's hand.

"Do you know her? I mean, Cristina," Jackson asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's my best friend, godmother to our daughter and many other things." She laughed, knowing that explain the relationship between her and Cristina to someone who didn't know them was almost impossible.

"Obviously I picked the right person to talk to," Jackson laughed a little before continuing. "I've been a big fan of her for the past few months and I'm glad she decided to do an exhibition of her photos."

"She's been working very hard on this," Meredith nodded. "And I guess you'll meet her in person soon," she said and looked behind Jackson. He turned around and saw Cristina walking towards them. She looked even prettier than on the photo he saw in the newspaper. She was wearing a short black dress, leather jacket and she was petite, the high heels made her legs look unbelievably long and sexy. Her dark curls were bouncing around her smiley face as she walked and all Jackson could do was stare at her in amazement.

"So you came!" Cristina exclaimed happily, when she saw her best friend and her husband. "When you called me and told me you couldn't get a babysitter, I was worried you were not gonna make it. It's enough that Lexie couldn't come because of the family reunion."

"There was no way we wouldn't make it," Meredith said. "This is your big exhibition and I'm so proud of you. We all are." Meredith gave her a slight hug and Cristina blushed a little. She wasn't used to having so much attention. When she started with photography, it was just a hobby. She never thought it might be her profession one day. But then she met Meredith and from an underrated accountant she became a photographer for one of Washington's most popular magazines. And now she was having her own big exhibition. "Oh, I almost forgot. This is Jackson Avery," Meredith smiled and pointed to Jackson, who was standing a few feet away from them, nervously shifting from one leg to another. "He is your big fan and definitely a hottie," she added quietly and slightly pushed Cristina towards him.

"Hi, I'm Jackson Avery," he introduced himself with a big smile, trying to hide the fact, that he was quite nervous. He has been admiring Cristina since the first time he saw her photos in that magazine and meeting her in person was something he really wanted.

"I'm Cristina Yang. But since you're here, I guess you already know that," she said with a slight giggle. Meredith was right. This guy was definitely a type that could be marked as 'hottie'. He had light green-blue eyes, which could easily hypnotize any woman in that room among with a big shiny smile. And even though he was wearing a suit, Cristina could notice his masculine body under it.

"Cristina, maybe you should walk Jackson around and show him those beautiful photos you have over there," Meredith said and winked at her best friend.

"I'd love that." Jackson gave Cristina another big smile and she couldn't resist that.

"So..." Cristina tried to start a conversation, while they walked towards the wall, where most of her favorite photos were exposed. "How did you find out about my photos?"

Jackson laughed a little, as he remembered the day he saw Cristina's photos for the first time. Back then he would never think that one day he may share that story with her. "You may find it funny, but I actually discovered your work outside a dentist's office. I was reading through some magazines they had there, when I saw an article about animals from Africa. And those photos... They're stunning," he explained with a bright smile and noticed Cristina's face flushing a little, as she laughed about his story.

"You can't be serious. Outside a dentist's office?" she asked with a chuckle. "I hate visiting dentists. But I'm glad this one actually helped me gain one more fan."

"A big fan," Jackson corrected her and took two glasses of champagne from a waiter who was just walking around and handed one of them to Cristina. "Actually, I'm glad I visited the dentist that day. I may have never seen your photos if I didn't. It would be such a shame."

"It was really worth visiting the dentist?" Cristina asked with a giggle, feeling her cheeks getting red. She had been publishing her photos for quite a while, but she still wasn't really used to compliments. Especially not from strangers. However, this stranger seemed to be really nice. And hot. "One article and you became my fan?"

"Yeah, just that." Jackson nodded, not admitting that he spent hours browsing the Internet and looking for more of Cristina's photos. He didn't want to look like a stalker freak, just a minute after they met.

"Well, now I feel honored," she smiled and bit her lower lip, not understanding what was going on with her. There was something about this guy, that made her want to giggle like a teenage girl. "So you apparently know something about me, but except for your name I don't know anything about you," she said, trying to change the topic while they walked around the room, looking at all the photos Cristina exposed there. "Do you live here? In Seattle?" she asked curiously and sipped from her champagne.

"Yeah, I have a studio here." He nodded, also taking a sip from his glass. He couldn't really tell, if Cristina was just being polite or really wanted to know more about him. Either way, he liked this small conversation.

"A studio?" Cristina's eyes widened. Now she was really becoming curious about this guy.

"I'm a painter," he explained.

"You're a painter? So you're an artist too." She nodded appreciatively. She didn't know much about painting, but she knew that being appreciated by an artist was even better than being appreciated by a 'normal' person. "Do you happen to have an exhibition somewhere too or are you doing it just for fun?"

"I'm not that big of a painter yet, so I don't show it anywhere, but I have quite a collection at home. But who knows, maybe one day I'll have an exhibition like you too." Jackson shrugged and gave Cristina one of his best smiles. He has been admiring her and her work for a quite some time and now, when he finally met her he couldn't take his eyes off her. And if a wide smile was supposed to let him get to know her better he wasn't afraid to use it.

"I'd love to see that collection," Cristina blurted out without thinking and suddenly felt really embarrassed for saying it. _Did I just ask him to invite me to his house?_ "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate," she quickly apologized, not being able to look at him again. She didn't understand where these words were coming from, but she really wanted to make sure, that this wasn't the last time she ever saw Jackson. She knew him just for a few minutes, but his smile was like some sort of magic, that took complete control over her.

Jackson was a little surprised by Cristina's reaction and he could see she felt more than a little embarrassed for what she said, but it brought a small smile to his face. He wanted to invite her by himself, but since they had known each other just for a few minutes, it seemed too presumptuous to him. And he really didn't want to look like a freak. "No, it's okay. If you really are interested, I'd like to show it to you. Beside other things, it's always good to know what other artists think about my work."

"You- you would?" Cristina asked surprised. The color of her face still reminded of a tomato, but at least she was able to look Jackson in the eye again.

"Of course," he nodded and pulled a business card out of his pocket, handing it to Cristina. "That's my phone number and address. Just call me when you want to come and I'll be happy to meet you again." He smiled at her, happy that she gave him a reason to give her his number without being too pushy.

Cristina thanked him and quickly looked around, while her eyes searched for the nearest table where her business cards were. She took one and handed it to Jackson. Small shy smiles appeared on their faces, as their fingers lightly touched for a brief second, before pulling away. "If you ever need a photo or anything, just call me," Cristina said and hoped it wouldn't be the only reason for him to call her.

"I will. Don't worry about that." Jackson nodded his head, knowing that he would definitely call her. From the little while they talked, he assumed she was quite nice and intelligent. Exactly how he imagined her. And he wanted to get to know her better.

There was a moment of awkward silence between them, when Cristina spotted another familiar face she invited, entering her exhibition. "I really liked talking to you, but I guess you understand I should talk to my other guests too," she said, not too excited about the fact, that she had to interrupt their small conversation.

"Yes, of course. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people who are dying to talk to you," Jackson laughed a little, because he knew, that he was one of them. But he also knew it would be unfair to keep Cristina away from those people.

"I hope so." She gave him a big genuine smile, letting him know, that she wanted to see him again as well. They said their goodbyes before heading off in their separate directions, hoping it wasn't the last time they spoke that evening.

"Hey, Owen. I'm glad you came." Cristina said politely, as she walked towards her colleague. A couple of days ago, when she decided to invite him to her exhibition, she wanted to give him a second chance and ask him, if he was interested in going on another date with her. But now… After the little while she spent with Jackson, she wasn't so sure about it. She has known Owen for almost two years, but during those two years, he has never impressed her as much as Jackson did in those few minutes.

"Hey," he greeted her with a huge smile on his face and leaned over to kiss her, but she turned her head to the side, so his lips just slightly touched her cheek. He was a little disappointed by her move, but assumed that she just wasn't comfortable with kissing him in front of so many people. After all, they have HAD gone ONE to just one date so far. Not knowing that it was also their last date he hoped for more and wrapped his arm around Cristina's waist, lightly pulling her closer to him.

Cristina squirmed a little, as she felt Owen's hand slightly squeezing her hip. She wasn't expecting that and felt a little uncomfortable. "Look, Owen," she started, trying to tell him that there was nothing more between them than a working relationship or possible friendship. She was feeling bad about giving him false hope when obviously there wasn't any.

"I know. This is your first big exhibition and you feel a little nervous about it, but it's okay. You don't have to kiss me in public if you don't feel up to it. We can take it slowly," he said, smiling at her, having no idea what was going on in her head.

"That's not what I was trying to say," she interrupted him. "I know this is not the best place or time to tell you this, but I have to." Cristina took a deep breath before speaking again. "I like you. But… Obviously not the same way you like me. I'd like us to stay friends, but that's all I can offer." She sighed, feeling a little guilty as she saw Owen's disappointed face.

"Oh," was all Owen managed to say and quickly removed his hand from Cristina's hip. He was so sure that she wanted to start a relationship with him. Apparently, he was wrong and now he felt really embarrassed about the whole situation. "I'm sorry. I guess I probably misunderstood your signals or something."

Cristina wanted to tell him, that there was nothing wrong about him and that it wasn't his fault when he thought she wanted to start a relationship. Because just a few minutes ago, she did. And then she met a stranger who made her rethink, if choosing the 'easier way' was the best decision. However, she rather didn't say anything. After the moment of awkward silence between the two of them, Owen decided it was time to say something. "Well, I guess I should go. I don't want to ruin your evening."

"You're not..." she tried to stop him, but the words got stuck in her throat. "I'm glad you came. Really. It means a lot to me. And I hope this misunderstanding won't change things between us. Because you're a great colleague," Cristina said, giving Owen a small smile.

"Don't worry about that." He lightly shook his head, before saying goodbye and leaving the exhibition.

Cristina watched him leave, still feeling a little bad for turning him down, but quickly forgot about it, when her other guests approached her, keeping her busy for the rest of the evening.

"Who could say, that this exhibition would be such a success?"Cristina asked with a huge smile on her face. It was shortly after midnight and she was sitting in Meredith's car on her way home. After Owen left, she talked to many different people who came to her exhibition and admired her work. She also got a few very tempting job offers, but refused. Even though she often complained about the work in the magazine, she liked it there. It gave her enough space and freedom to express her own ideas. And she also had all her friends around her.

"I said that. But you didn't listen," Meredith said in a dry tone. Her eyes were half closed, as she tried to not fall asleep before they came home. After becoming a mother of now almost one year old Adrienne, she wasn't used to staying up so late.

"That was rhetorical question." Cristina rolled her eyes, but then started to laugh. "Everything I do is a success," she announced proudly.

Derek chuckled, listening to his wife and her friend's conversation, while his eyes were still fixed to the road in front of him.

"Anything funny?" Cristina asked, turning to Derek who seemed quite amused.

"No, nothing." He shook his head. "I just remembered the past weeks that you spent complaining about how big of a fiasco your exhibition will be."

"I was overacting. You can't take me seriously." She laughed, as Derek stopped the car in front of the building where she lived. "Okay. I'm home. Thank you both for coming," Cristina smiled at them and hopped out of the car. "See you on Monday."

Meredith and Derek said their goodbyes to her, before starting the car again and heading home. It had been a long night for all of them. But not even exhaustion stopped Cristina from thinking the only thought she had had on her mind all evening. Jackson Avery.


	3. Chapter 3

**So it's been two weeks and I'm back with a new chapter. Thank you for the wonderful reviews and I hope you will enjoy it at least as much as you did the previous two :)**

* * *

"Hey," Meredith said, as she walked in to the kitchenette and spotted Cristina, who was just having her morning cup of coffee. Every morning they met there and talked a little before work started, but this time Cristina looked a little distracted and thoughtful. However, Meredith decided to ignore it. She had something slightly more important to ask her. "Listen, I know it's a short notice, but could you come over tonight and look after Adrienne? Derek wants to take me to a restaurant and our babysitter can't come, so I was wondering if you have time." Meredith looked at her pleadingly, hoping she would agree.

"I'm sorry, Mer. You know I love spending time with my goddaughter, but I already have this thing planned for tonight." Cristina looked at her apologetically. She didn't like saying no to her, especially when Meredith looked like she was relying on her, but she already had her plans for the evening and wouldn't like to change them.

"What kind of thing?" Meredith asked curiously. She had no idea what Cristina was up to, but assumed that it was the reason, why she looked so thoughtful.

"Do you remember Jackson? That hot guy I met at my exhibition?" she asked, not waiting for Meredith's answer and continued. "Well, yesterday we talked over the phone and he invited me to his apartment. He wants to show me the collection of his paintings we were talking about earlier."

"First date and he already invited you to his apartment? This guy is taking it a little quickly, don't you think?" Meredith asked, worried about her best friend. She knew her respond might have sounded a little harsh, but Cristina's plans surprised her. Just a week ago, she was talking about giving Owen another chance and suddenly she was going on a date with a complete stranger. However, considering how hot Jackson looked, she couldn't really blame her.

"It's not a date!" Cristina corrected her and shook her head. "I asked him to show me his paintings and that's what he is going to do. Nothing more, nothing less."

"So what is it? A sleepover?" She asked with a chuckle. From the way Cristina responded, she could see she was nervous about it. Date or not, she seemed to like that guy. "Because he may want to show you much more than just his paintings."

"Wh... What?"

"I just... In case you want to spend a night there, you might want to bring a tooth brush. And condoms," she said quietly and started to laugh, when she saw Cristina's confused facial expression. She couldn't tell if Meredith was joking or not.

"I'm not gonna... I... Um... Meredith!" Cristina yelled, flinging her arms everywhere. She was already nervous enough and didn't need Meredith to make it worse.

"Calm down. I was just kidding," Meredith was still laughing, as she watched her friend, nervously shifting from one foot to another. "You must really like this guy. I've never seen you being so nervous about a date."

"So maybe I like him," she finally admitted, looking at her shoes. Cristina had never been good talking about feelings, but the redness in her face said it all. "He seems to be nice. But… I don't know if he likes me that way. I don't even know if he likes me at all. I basically made him to invite me. So maybe he was just being polite."

"So you think he invited you to his apartment because he doesn't like you?" Meredith asked, still mocking her friend a little. Seeing Cristina so nervous was something unusual and she was enjoying it. Most of the time Cristina was very confident about her actions and decisions.

"Why are you so mean to me today?" Cristina asked, crossing her arms on her chest, pretending to be mad at her. She expected some kind of support from her person, but instead of that, she was making fun of her nervousness.

"I'm not mean. But you don't know him very well and I just want to protect you."

"Well you don't have to. If you want, I'll give you his address, just in case. But I'm telling you, it's just a friendly visit," Cristina said, rolling her eyes and not accepting the fact that Jackson might be attracted to her as well.

"You really think you will drink tea and chat about weather? He's into you. I'm more than sure about that."

"Who is into whom?" Izzie's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation, as she entered the kitchen. When she first came to the magazine, looking for a job, she was just one of many models. But as they soon found out, she was also an amazing writer with a head full of useful advice which helped her to become a full time employee. And since she was also really chatty and sociable, it didn't take her too long to become Meredith and Cristina's friend.

"Cristina has a date with one hot painter that she met at her exhibition," Meredith said, clarifying the situation. "And she doesn't want to admit that he's into her."

"Meredith!" Cristina exclaimed, trying to shut her up. She didn't like it when her personal life was discussed with other people. Even though Izzie was a good friend, she couldn't keep her mouth shut for very long. And Cristina didn't want everybody to know about her date. Especially when she didn't know, if it was gonna work or not. "And it's not a date."

"He invited her to his apartment, to show her some of his paintings," Meredith explained, seeing Izzie's eyes widen. "Oh, so it's a sleepover." Izzie nodded her head, took yoghurt out of the fridge and sat beside Meredith. "Is he hot? 'Cos I heard that many painters are weirdoes." She scrunched up her face.

Cristina rolled her eyes at Izzie's comment, ignoring the part about the sleepover. "He is hot. Very hot to be exact," she admitted, biting her lip, as she remembered the hypnotizing eyes and shiny smile. This guy made her feel like a teenager that was going on a first date. "But that's not the point." She took a deep breath before continuing, still avoiding Izzie and Meredith's curious eyes. "The point is, that we're just going to talk about art, maybe drink a little, but that's all," she said, trying to look confident about it, even though she knew there could be much more going on.

"People usually call it a date."Izzie grinned, sticking her tongue out a little.

"Yeah," Meredith agreed and nodded her head.

"You know what? You act like a bunch of teenage girls. If you wanna act like this then I'm not gonna tell you anything," Cristina said, pretending to be mad at them and with a cup of coffee in her hand left to her office.

"She likes him," Meredith and Izzie both said at the same time, when Cristina left the kitchen and started to laugh.

Jackson was really nervous about Cristina coming to his place. There hadn't been many women in his apartment so far. Especially not on a first date. If this could be even considered as a first date. But Cristina was different. She didn't seem to be scared of being alone with him. She was obviously very confident. And also she was the one, who asked him to show her his collection of paintings. Cristina made him nervous. More than any woman ever did. Suddenly the doorbell rang and Jackson quickly checked himself in the mirror, before rushing to open the door.

"Hey," Cristina said with a smile, when he opened the door. She looked totally stunning and all Jackson could do, was stand there without a word and stare at her. She was wearing white ruffle top and black skinny jeans. Without the high heels she looked so tiny, but still really hot.

"Hey. I was worried you were not gonna come," Jackson said, when he finally woke up from the shock of how beautiful she looked. "Come in."

"I wasn't sure if I'm gonna come. First I thought you might be one of those freaky pervs, who want to show women their "collection", then rape them and hide them in their basement for the rest of their lives. But considering that I learned something in Thai box classes and that I have tear-gas in my bag, I decided to come anyway," she said with laugh, as she walked into Jackson's apartment. "And I also googled your name, what proved that you really are who you said you are," she added after a while, running her hand through her hair nervously. "Am I talking too much?" she asked when she realized that she was acting nothing like herself. But with Jackson light blue eyes fixed on her it was difficult to act normal.

"No. Not at all," Jackson laughed as he led her to the couch in the middle of his living room. The fact that she looked nervous calmed him a little. At least he wasn't alone in it. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll just grab some wine from the fridge."

"From what I can see, you have a really nice apartment," Cristina said, looking around and sat on the couch, putting her bag next to her. "Much bigger compared to mine."

"That's just an illusion, because I have high ceiling and I put my bedroom to the air," Jackson winked at her and walked to his kitchen that was connected with his living room. "And I also use this apartment as a studio where I paint."

"That's cool. Working from home. There are days when I hate getting up from bed and going to the magazine where I work."

"So you work in FOR a magazine?" Jackson asked curiously, whilst he searched for a bottle of red wine in his fridge. "I thought you only do photography." He added, when he finally found what he was looking for and walked back to the living room. He put two glasses on the small coffee table and poured them with wine, before sitting beside Cristina.

"I do. I take photos for the magazine. Fashion, photos of food or anything else that needs to be captured. This job pays my bills. The photos on IN my exhibition those I do for fun."

"I can totally understand that." He nodded. "Few years ago, I used to illustrate books a lot. It helped me move from the tiny apartment I had to this one. Now I mostly do big paintings for customers, but still illustrate some books here and there. It gives me some certainty in my life," Jackson explained and handed Cristina the glass of red.

At first the conversation between them was a little awkward but after a few minutes they both became comfortable around each other. Cristina told him about the years in college and how she moved to Seattle, thinking she would be an accountant for the rest of her life. Also about how she met Meredith who quickly became her best friend and how she and her husband who was a co-owner of the popular magazine they worked for, helped her slowly become a photographer.

Jackson explained to her his complicated relationship with his parents, who were successful lawyers and wanted him to do the same. However, he was always fascinated by art and after finishing a law school, he decided to get away from his parents' power and become a painter like he always wanted to.

After they both shared their experiences and agreed, that becoming an artist wasn't as easy as it seemed, there was a silent moment between them. Suddenly Jackson remembered the reason, why Cristina came to his apartment in the first place.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed, when he realized that. "I promised that I'll show you my collection and I almost forgot about it." He quickly stood up from the couch and turned on the lights on the opposite side of his living room. "Follow me," he said and Cristina did as he told her to. They walked to the corner of the room, where Jackson moved away two screens, revealing a small studio, where he worked on his paintings.

"Wow," Cristina let out the word of surprise, as she looked around with a small smile on her face. There were some canvases, brushes, colors and bunch of other stuff she couldn't identify.

"I know it's not big, but it gives me enough space to work on my paintings. And it's quite close to the kitchen." He laughed and walked further to his workplace. He grabbed an old blanket, which was covering his paintings and put it away. A little bit of dust filled the small space and Cristina started to cough. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I don't put it away very often," he quickly apologized, giving Cristina a concerned look.

"It's okay," she managed to say, when she finally took a deep breath.

"You sure?" Jackson asked her and after she gave him a reassuring nod, he started to show her his paintings and her face immediately lightened up.

"Oh my God" Those are wonderful," she said with a huge smile on her lips, as she studied every inch of every painting. There were unbelievably realistic portraits along with classical still-lifes and some abstract experiments. "These tulips look so real. Like you can actually touch them or smell them," she giggled and looked at Jackson, who was watching her in delight.

He always hoped he could find a woman who would admire his work. Who would understand how important art was for him. And the look in Cristina's eyes when she was looking at his painting told him that she could be a woman like that. At first he was worried she wouldn't like his work, but she seemed to be amazed. "Do you want to touch it?" he prompted her.

"You can't touch paintings. Don't you know that?" she asked with laugh.

"Of course you can. You just need the privilege." Jackson winked at her and took her small hand into his. He gently traced along the edge of each tulip with her fingers, a wide smile not leaving his face. "Do you like it?" he asked, seeing her pretty smile growing bigger.

"Yeah." She nodded and looked back at him. "It's amazing," she admitted, still a little surprised how easily it impressed her. She may have been picky when it came to dating, but any sort of art amazed her really quickly.

They were both standing there in complete silence with silly smiles on their faces, completely lost in their thoughts, when Jackson took a deep breath, ready to say something. "Will it be too presumptuous if I try to kiss you?" he asked suddenly. He knew that asking that was _very_ presumptuous, but just watching how her full pink lips moved as she spoke, wasn't enough for him. He wanted to taste them. To feel them on his own.

"Yeah." She laughed a little and he took it as a bad sign. "But I like presumptuous," she added after a while, smiling at him and moving a little closer. Cristina wanted to kiss him at least as much, as he wanted to kiss her. But none of them admitted it.

Jackson's hand slowly moved to the side of her head, lightly stroking her cheek, before he leaned over her and his lips softly captured hers. They were full and soft. Perfect for kissing. And Jackson didn't want to let them go. It was very gentle and romantic kiss, even though it lasted just for a few seconds.

"That felt..." Jackson started hesitantly, when he pulled away a little, not being sure if Cristina liked it as much, as he did.

"Good," she finished and a shy smile appeared on her lips. _Actually very good._ She thought to herself, not saying anything just keep smiling.

"Do you want more wine?" Jackson suggested, after another moment of silent staring at each other. If it was up to him, he would never stop kissing her, but for now, he didn't want to push it too much.

"Yeah, I'd love to," she nodded and they both moved back to the couch.

Jackson poured them two glasses of red, giving her one of his best smiles. _God, she's so beautiful._ He thought as he sipped from his glass, discretely watching her curls move around her face. He wanted to touch them so so bad.

They were both longing for the sweet taste of each other's lips. After a few long seconds of silence, they both decided to lean over. Unfortunately they both moved their head to the same side and their noses bumped painfully. They quickly pulled away from each other, slightly rubbing the places, where their faces bumped together.

"Ouch," Cristina yelped in pain, still holding her hand over her face. "This kind of ruined the moment," she said with chuckle.

"I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" Jackson asked concerned and gently removed Cristina's hand from her nose. "I'm not a doctor, but it seems to be all right," he said with a small smile, while his fingers lightly stroked her cheek, before leaning over again and softly kissing her.

Cristina quickly forgot about the pain, as she caught his lips into hers, eagerly responding to his kiss. This one was more passionate than the first one. His hand quickly find the way to her hair, feeling the soft curls under his fingertips, while she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. _She was surrounded by his scent_ along with the warmth that his body provided and all she could think about was the sweet, yet refreshing taste of his lips on hers. They reminded her of _mint_ chocolate _chip ice cream. Her favorite._ "We barely know each other," Jackson said breathlessly, when he pulled away after a while, gasping for air.

"Is that a problem for you?" Cristina asked, hoping it wasn't. She wasn't a type of woman that would make out with strangers, but there was something about Jackson, that made her do crazy things. And she liked that feeling.

"No, not at all." He shook his head and his lips crushed on hers again. He wrapped his arms around her slim waist, pulling her closer and closing the distance between them. His tongue slightly ran across her bottom lip, begging for an entrance and she didn't resist. As their tongues battled inside of Cristina's mouth, Jackson gently pinned her to the couch. His hands slowly started to run up and down her sides, intensifying the feeling of their already passionate kisses. A slight moan escaped Cristina's throat, when she felt Jackson's lips moving to her neck, nuzzling it a little, while his hot breath tickled her skin.

"Oh, God," she whispered, before their lips met again in another hot mouth opened kiss.

They both forgot how fast the time was running, when suddenly Cristina heard her phone ringing in her bag. "I think I should pick that up," she murmured against Jackson's lips, trying to reach her bag with one hand, while the other one was still wrapped around his neck.

"Can't it wait?" he asked, because he didn't want to separate his lips from hers for more than a second. "Whoever it is, will call later."

"I guess it's my best friend, Meredith. She knows I'm here and if I don't pick up, she'll call the cops," Cristina said with a serious face, knowing that Meredith would be capable of it.

"In that case, you better take that call," disappointment was obvious in Jackson's voice and before he straightened up he gave Cristina one more kiss. "In case you want some privacy..." Jackson said and pointed to the door that led to his bathroom.

"Thanks," Cristina smiled and picked up the phone. "Hey, Mer. What's up?" she tried to sound casually, as she closed the door of the bathroom behind her.

"Why did it take you so long to pick up? I was about to call the police," Meredith basically yelled and Cristina could hear that she was worried.

"Chillax, Meredith. I'm fine." Cristina laughed, when she heard Meredith's scared voice. In fact, she was more than fine. "I was just... ummm... busy," she said, biting her lip in order not to laugh. Cristina knew that this kind of answer would freak Meredith out even more. But after the way she acted this morning, she kind of deserved it.

"What?" Meredith shouted out. "Did you sleep with him?"

"No. We were just... making out a little. No big deal," she said with the same tone, like as if she was saying that she was having a cup of coffee with him.

Cristina could hear Meredith letting out a breath, as she found out that her friend was okay. "I thought you said it's not a date," she mocked her a little.

"It's not." Cristina grinned, even though Meredith couldn't see her.

"Okay. Whatever. But date or not, you can't sleep with him. He'll think you're a slut." Meredith warned her with a serious tone in her voice.

"Don't worry. I know how to behave." Cristina rolled her eyes. She always tried to convince Meredith that she didn't need relationship advice, but wasn't very successful. Especially when most of the guys she went out with didn't make it to second date. "I have to end. I don't want Jackson to think that I'm telling you every single detail."

"But you will," Meredith said, hoping to hear everything about Cristina's evening in the young artist's apartment.

"We'll see." Cristina laughed and hung up. She took a quick look in the mirror, fixing her messy hair a little, before coming back to the living room.

"So? Did you explain your friend that I'm not a serial killer?" Jackson asked with a grin, as Cristina sat on the couch next to him.

"Yeah. I think she finally believes it," she chuckled, before putting a small kiss on Jackson's lips. She wished she could stay with him all night, even if they spent it just talking about art, but felt like it was time to call it night and go home. "It was a lovely evening, but I think it's time to go for me. I have to get up early and go to work," she sighed. Even though she loved photography more than anything, the early get-up was awful.

"Right. Having normal work sucks." He nodded sympathetically, leading Cristina to the front door. He wished she could stay, but knew it was too early to ask her something like that. He didn't want to ruin the perfect evening they had. "So... Can I see you again? Sometime?" he asked hopefully because he couldn't imagine the possibility of never seeing her again.

"Definitely," she replied with a smile, hoping that 'sometime' will be soon enough.

As their eyes met again, Jackson leaned over and kissed her one more time before leaving. "Good bye, Cristina," he said when their lips separated.

"Good bye." With those words she left his apartment. It had been just a few seconds, but she already couldn't wait to see him again. Cristina began to feel something she hasn't felt in a very long time. She was falling in love. And there was no way to get out of it.


	4. Chapter 4

**First of all I'd like to explain the confusing situation about who is this story about. The thing is, that first I labelled it Cristina/Jackson/Owen to give it some mystery about who will Cristina be with, but after some people started to ask for more Owen, I decided to label it only Cristina/Jackson. However, something happened and the story started to show up as Cristina/Owen and I haven't noticed it for a couple of days. So just to be clear, this is a Cristina/Jackson story, but for those of you who want more Owen, he will definitely show up again.**

**Also to the hateful anons sending me reviews, please don't forget this is an AU story. What means that the history of the characters is different and it affects their personalities. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

**To other people who sent me nice reviews, I'm really happy you like this story :)**

* * *

"So? How was it? I wanna hear details." Meredith started to bombard her friend with questions the moment she entered the building of Seattle's Metropolitan Magazine.

"Mer, can I at least get my morning cup of coffee before you start to ask me so many questions? I've not totally woken up yet."

"Sorry." Meredith looked at her apologetically. "But what did you expect when you told me you made out with him and then hung up on me a couple of seconds later? I need to hear everything." She stressed the last word, letting Cristina know that she was impatiently waiting for all the juicy details about her date.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you." Cristina raised her hands, telling Meredith that she was giving up and was willing to tell her everything. "Just give me a minute to wake up. Okay?" They walked to the kitchenette, both grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting on chairs opposite each other. "So what do you wanna know?" Cristina sighed after a few minutes when she couldn't bear Meredith's curious staring any longer.

"What happened? Did you get into his apartment and he immediately pushed you against the door, kissing until you were both breathless and sweaty? Or was he a gentleman and offered you something to drink before you started making out?" she finally let out all the questions that have been bothering her since the previous evening.

Cristina burst into laugh as she listened to Meredith's theory. "Mer, I guess you watch TV too much. It was nothing like that," she started to explain and a big happy smile appeared on her lips, as she remembered the previous evening. "I came to his apartment and yes, he did offer me a drink, but we just talked. He told me something about his past, I told him something about mine and then he began to show me his paintings." Her eyes lit up when she mentioned his paintings. "You really should see his work. It's... amazing. Those portraits and even the abstract paintings. You know I'm not the biggest fan of..."

"Okay, I believe you. He's a great painter. Awesome. But when did you start making out?" Meredith interrupted her impatiently. Since Cristina couldn't babysit for her the previous night, Meredith and Derek got stuck at home, watching some old boring movies and falling asleep really early. So now Meredith wanted to know that at least Cristina had an interesting evening and that it was worth the trade.

"Don't be so impatient. I'm getting to it." Cristina rolled her eyes, but laughed and then continued. "So he showed me his paintings and then we were just staring at each other when suddenly he asked me if he could kiss me. And honestly, I couldn't resist. So that's it." She shrugged and sipped from her coffee, waiting for Meredith to ask her another question.

"That's it? Where are the details?" Meredith asked, throwing her arms in the air impatiently. She felt like a teenager who waited for her friend to share every little detail about her date. "Was it good or is he that kind of guy whose saliva you get all over your face? Because that's gross." She scrunched her nose up in disgust and Cristina laughed.

"No, nothing like that." She shook her head. "It was almost perfect. I mean... We bumped our noses at first, but then it was awesome." She sighed with a stupid grin on her face. Cristina wasn't used to talking about her dates like this. Especially because most of the time they ended up in a fisaco. But since the time she left Jackson's apartment she felt surprisingly happy. And she had no problem sharing all the details with Meredith. "At least until my phone started to ring and ruined the atmosphere," she added sarcastically, glaring at Meredith.

"Sorry," Meredith whispered, feeling a little guilty. "But I was worried about you. He could've kidnapped you, raped you or killed you."

"Yeah, but he didn't." Cristina shrugged her shoulders, not knowing why Meredith was suddenly so overprotective.

"Well, luckily for you."

"Mer, I know you want to protect me, but I don't need that anymore. Jackson is a good guy. He won't hurt me."

"You thought that about Burke too," Meredith said with a concerned face as she remembered Cristina's previous boyfriend. Even though she never met him, she knew their relationship ended up in a fiasco and made Cristina not trust people so easily. That was also the reason why she was so surprised about how quickly Cristina started to trust Jackson.

"I was stupid. Now I can tell if someone tries to screw me over. And Jackson doesn't seem to be that kind of guy," she announced with confidence in her voice. But in fact, she wasn't confident about it at all. She really wanted to believe that Jackson was a good guy. That he wouldn't hurt her. But at the same time she felt enormous fear of another man breaking her heart. Because she didn't know if she could take it again.

"I hope you're right." Meredith tried to smile, even though she saw a little bit of insecurity in Cristina's eyes. "And if he hurts you, I'll kick his ass."

"I bet you will."

"I haven't seen you all week. So, how was the family reunion with Lexie this weekend?" Jackson asked casually, during one of his regular workouts with his best friend, Mark. He and Mark used to meet twice a week in a gym, gossiping a little, while working on their already flawless bodies. Mark's girlfriend Lexie always laughed, it was just a man's version of sitting in a hair salon. None of them dared to contradict, because they knew she was right.

"It was... Good. Surprisingly good," Mark admitted with a slight smile, while lifting some weights. "Lexie was really nervous at first, because I only met her sisters and father before, but the rest of her family seemed to accept me quite well."

"You used the Sloan charm, huh?" Jackson laughed.

"I think I should teach you how to do it. That way you might actually get a date." Mark grinned at his friend, lifting some weights as they talked.

"I know it might surprise you, but I had a date yesterday," he announced proudly. Mark always teased him, because he couldn't get a girlfriend. But the fact was that Jackson was just really picky. With his bright eyes and shiny smile, he could get tons of pretty girls. He wouldn't even have to try that hard. However, beauty wasn't all that Jackson required. Actually, it wasn't even in the first placeon his 'list'. An ideal girlfriend for Jackson had to be smart, funny and confident. But most importantly, he had to see some sort of sparkle between them. And that was definitely something, he saw with Cristina.

"Oh, really?" Mark looked at him surprised. He knew how picky Jackson could be, when it came to choosing a girlfriend. But he completely understood him. A few years back, Mark didn't need much from women to interest him. Sexy body, pretty face or just a need to have some fun with him was all he required. After he met Lexie, his demands on women raised unexpectedly. She was all he ever dreamed about and he knew it would be hard to find someone like that. But since they were incredibly happy together, he didn't have to care about that. "So who is this girl? Does she accomplish all your needs?" He asked with chuckle.

"Actually, yes." Jackson nodded and put the dumbbells he was holding down, before remembering his date with Cristina. "Her name is Cristina Yang and she is... Amazing," he said and a wide smile appeared on his lips. "She's pretty. And funny. But not in a silly kind of way. She seems to be very smart too. And she has the best curly hair I've ever seen." He laughed a little after the last sentence, but it was true.

"Cristina Yang?" Mark asked, thinking why that name felt so familiar to him. He was a lawyer so he knew a lot of people and heard a lot of names, but this was different. "Why does that name feel so familiar?"

"Well, she is a popular photographer here in Seattle. She had her first exhibition this Saturday. That's where I met her," Jackson explained.

"Oh, wait. Cristina Yang? A photographer? Are you talking about a petite Asian girl with a head full of ebony curls?"

"Yeah, that's how I would describe her. Do you know her? Oh, God, I hope you didn't sleep with her." Jackson looked at him horrified, hoping he wasn't right.

"What? No!" Mark exclaimed, shaking his head. "I just realized I know her. She works for the same magazine like Lexie, doesn't she?"

"She mentioned something about working for a magazine, but I don't think she told me which one," Jackson said, trying to remember if Cristina mentioned any name. "Wait!" he shouted out when he remembered something. "Lexie's last name is Grey, right?" he asked and Mark nodded. "Is her sister's name Meredith? Meredith Grey?"

"Yeah, she is..."

"Cristina's best friend," they both said at the same time.

"Wow, world is small, isn't it?" Jackson noted after a while.

"Yeah, it is." Mark laughed. "And I still haven't met Kate Moss."

"Kate Moss? She's not even that pretty."

"Well maybe not for you. She's not Asian." Mark grinned at his friend, mocking him a little. "But beware of this Cristina girl. Lexie said she can be pretty harsh sometimes. Maybe even cruel. And I think she made a few models cry. You don't wanna mess with that girl."

Jackson just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He had to admit he didn't know Cristina that much, but she seemed nothing like Mark just described her. "She's not like that. And I'll prove it to you."

"Okay. Do whatever you want. But don't come crying on my shoulder when she breaks your pretty face." Mark winked at him and got back to lifting weights. "How about baseball? Did you watch it on Sunday?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Yeah, but I kinda regret watching it. I've never seen such an awful game." Jackson laughed as they continued talking about sport, but he still couldn't take his mind off Cristina.

Cristina was sitting in her office, trying to edit the photos she shot the previous week, but she couldn't focus at all. She kept hypnotizing her cell phone with her eyes, hoping Jackson would call her and ask her to go on a date with him. She knew that she was living in the 21st century and that she could easily ask him out herself, but she didn't want to seem so desperate and pushy. After all, it had been less than twenty-four hours since they last saw each other. She shook her head, trying to push the thoughts about Jackson aside and get back to her work when her phone suddenly started to ring, making her jump from her chair. She quickly grabbed it in her hand, smiling when she saw the name on the display. "You can't pick up right away. You'll look desperate," she whispered to herself and took a deep breath before pushing the green button and picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Cristina. It's me, Jackson." His soft voice slid from the phone, making Cristina shiver a little.

"Hey, Jackson. How are you?" she asked nonchalantly, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Good, actually," he answered. _Much better now when I hear your voice again._ He thought and smiled to himself. "Listen, I was thinking if you would be interested in going out with me on Saturday. I know this fancy restaurant that I would like to show you. If you want," he added the last sentence just to let her know he wasn't pressuring her into anything. He wanted her to go out with him, because she liked spending time with him and not because she wanted to be polite.

"_Yes! Yes! Yes!"_ was all she wanted to say, but assuming she would look too crazy, she decided to keep it to herself. "Saturday you say?" she asked, making a dramatic pause. "Yeah, I think Saturday would do."

Jackson let out a breath of relief. He wasn't sure how Cristina felt about their date the previous day, but he knew that he wanted to see her again. "Great. So I'll pick you up at six."

"Six o'clock is good. I'm looking forward it." A big silly grin appeared on Cristina face as she told Jackson her address, reassuring him that he would find the way to her apartment.

"Okay, I get it. Can't wait to see you again," Jackson said and smiled for himself. He really couldn't wait. He hadn't stopped thinking about Cristina since the moment she left his apartment and luckily for him she felt the same.

"Me neither. So if that's all, I need to get back to work." Cristina sighed. She didn't like saying that, but the truth was that if she didn't get back to her work back to her work soon, she'd have to stay at work overtime. And she didn't like that idea at all.

"Oh, yes. Sorry for interrupting you at work. See you on Saturday. Bye," Jackson quickly said goodbye to her, not wanting to slow her down in her work. They still had the whole of Saturday evening ahead of them and he couldn't be more excited about it.

"Bye," she basically whispered, biting her lip to prevent herself from squealing with excitement.

Saturday could not come soon enough.

* * *

**If you have any questions or thoughts, leave me a review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter turned out to be a little longer so I hope you enjoy it :) Rated M for some mature content.**

* * *

It had been a few days since the date in Jackson's apartment where he showed Cristina his paintings. The following day he called her and they planned to go to a dinner together. Both of them were quite excited about it and couldn't wait to see each other again. The chemistry between them was obvious from miles away and neither of them tried to deny it.

The clock in Cristina's kitchen showed six in the evening, when she finally finished her make-up. She wasn't used to wearing a lot of it, but since Jackson invited her to a fancy restaurant she wanted to look as good as possible. She was wearing a short strapless dress with a blazer over it and nude heels that were making her legs look longer and sexier. Cristina loved high heels. Even though they weren't really comfortable. She noticed the way Jackson looked at her legs the first time they met and decided to tease him a little, showing him more of them.

Suddenly there was a slight knock on the door and Cristina's face lit up, knowing exactly who it was. "Hey." She smiled at him, as she opened the door.

"Hey," Jackson greeted her and pressed a small kiss to her lips before taking a step back and admiring how beautiful she looked. "You look gorgeous," he praised her and handed her a bouquet of tulips. "These are for you. I thought you may like some real ones so…"

"They're beautiful. Thank you." Cristina smiled at him, as she sniffed to the flowers. "Come inside. I'll just put them in a vase and we can go," she said and guided Jackson to her apartment.

"It's really nice here," Jackson said as he walked inside and looked around. There wasn't much to see, since Cristina's apartment was really small, but he noticed bunches of her photos everywhere.

"I'm sorry for the mess. I didn't expect you to come inside." Her cheeks got a little red when she realized how messy her apartment was. Especially compared to Jackson's.

"Does it mean you didn't consider inviting me here after the dinner?" Jackson grinned, mocking her a little.

"No," she answered sincerely, holding back laugh when she saw Jackson's disappointed face. "I have a third date rule." Cristina shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her purse. "We can go," she announced.

"I'm pretty sure you'll want to break that rule after spending evening with me," Jackson said self-consciously as he wrapped his arm around Cristina's waist, as they left her apartment.

"Aren't you too confident Mr. Avery?" Cristina asked with laugh, using his last name to show him that going on a date with her didn't mean he won.

"I just know myself well enough. And I'm telling you I'm right." He winked at her, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. If he wanted to prove that he was right, he had to try hard.

After a few minutes of riding in the car that they spent talking about art and other hobbies, Jackson stopped the car in front of a luxurious restaurant. He got out of the car, quickly moving to the other side and opening the door for Cristina.

"Wow!" Cristina exclaimed as she looked around, seeing one of the fanciest restaurants in Seattle. "Do you take all your new girlfriends here?" she asked with laugh. She knew it probably wasn't an appropriate question, but it was bugging her the whole ride. Even though she had never been there, she knew how expensive the food was in this restaurant. And if Jackson took her there it had to mean something.

"Only the special ones." He winked at her and handed his car keys to a guy standing next to them, before taking Cristina's hand into his and guiding her inside.

A waiter led them to their table where they ordered their drinks and then picked up their menus, looking for something appetizing to eat.

"Everything looks so delicious," Cristina said as she looked through the menu, not knowing what to choose. "But the prices..." she whispered to herself, but Jackson heard her.

"Don't worry about the price. It's my treat tonight. Just pick what you want." Jackson smiled and his eyes came back to his menu. There was no way he would let Cristina pay for herself, that was for sure. He always treat women like a gentleman. Whether they liked it or not.

"Oh, okay." She nodded. Cristina wasn't used to anyone paying for her. She didn't go to dates very often and they usually ended up in a fisaco so she had to pay for herself and sometimes even for the guy. A date with Jackson seemed to be a nice change. As they waited for the waiter to come back, they made small talk about everything and yet nothing at all. They both really enjoyed each other's presence, surprised how easily the conversation flowed.

"Wow! Are you sure you're gonna be able to eat all that? I mean... You're so… tiny." Jackson noted, raising his eyebrows after they placed their order. Considering how slim Cristina was he expected her to order plain salad and a glass of water. But instead of that she asked the waiter to bring her roast beef with extra portion of potatoes and carrots.

"I prefer to be called petite," she said, glaring at him. Cristina has always had a good appetite and she hated how many guys picked that up. It was one of the reasons why many of them didn't get a chance for another date. "And I don't think that telling a girl she eats too much is a good topic for a date," she added bitterly.

"That's not how I meant it," Jackson tried to defend himself. He didn't want to offend Cristina in any way. "I adore your appetite. You know… I love cooking and I hope I'll have the opportunity to show you my skills. I think you'd be able to appreciate it."

"Oh. Well… I'd be happy to try it." A small smile formed on her lips when Jackson revealed that he liked to cook. For some reason Cristina found that incredibly sexy.

"But I'm a little worried that you will criticize me like you do with the models at work. I heard you made some of them cry." Jackson laughed when he remembered what Mark told him about Cristina. He didn't believe it at first, but Cristina didn't look like she wanted to deny it.

"Who told you that?" Cristina asked confused, not knowing where Jackson got that kind of information.

"So you aren't denying it?" he teased her with a smirk on his face.

"Well, if I made some of them cry, it was because they weren't doing their job." Cristina had to admit, that sometimes she was a little harsh to the models at her work, but she couldn't stand it when people were being unprofessional. "But you didn't answer who told you about me making models cry. I guess it wasn't a little bird who flew around, was it?"

"It certainly wasn't." Jackson laughed. "But as I found out, world is much smaller than I thought." Cristina raised her eyebrows still not understanding what was Jackson trying to say. "My best friend, Mark Sloan has a girlfriend who happens to work at the same magazine like you do," he explained and sipped from the wine that the waiter just brought to their table.

"Little Grey?" Cristina asked surprised. She saw Lexie's boyfriend a couple of times, but she would never think that he could be Jackson's friend. Especially not his best friend as he had just called him.

"Yeah, I guess that's her." Jackson laughed at the nickname that Cristina gave Lexie. "But don't worry. It will take much more than that to scare me away. You can count on another date."

Cristina just wanted to ask him why he was so confident about her wanting to go on an another date with him, but the waiter just came to their table again, finally bringing their food so she just smiled, leaving a sarcastic remark for herself.

There was a moment of silence as they both started to eat, enjoying the delicious taste of the food. While Cristina's eyes were glued to her plate all that time, Jackson couldn't stop himself from looking up every few seconds. He could see that Cristina clearly enjoyed the food and he couldn't be happier about it. "Looks like you chose the food over me." He laughed, when Cristina finished her plate, finally looking at him.

"Sorry to tell you that, but against this food, you have no chance." Cristina giggled, her face getting a little red when she realized she ate the food quicker than Jackson did. "It's delicious."

"So I don't even have to try to cook for you sometime?" he asked, pretending to be hurt.

"We'll see." She shrugged, giving Jackson a big smile and sipped from her glass. She had to admit that the date was going better than she expected. The food was delicious, the music was great and her conversation with Jackson flowed really naturally.

"So, tell me, Cristina. What made you agree to go on a date with me?" Jackson asked after a while of silent yet comfortable staring at each other. This question had been on his mind since the moment Cristina agreed to go out with him. Even though on the outside he seemed to be quite confident, on the inside he had some doubts about himself and he really wanted to know what Cristina liked about him.

"Honestly? I don't know," she answered with laugh. Cristina wanted to see Jackson again since she left his apartment, but she couldn't quite tell what made her feel this way. Maybe it was the light eyes, the shiny smile or maybe just the fact, that she felt really good in his company. "I guess I wanted to know what's hiding under that pretty smile."

"Have you found out already?" Jackson was really curious about her answer.

"Maybe," she answered, trying to keep her answers as mysterious as possible. "But I guess you should give me more opportunities to get to know you."

"Are you asking me out?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise, happy that Cristina even considered meeting him again.

"If you agree, then yes, I'm asking you out," Cristina replied with laugh.

"I'm definitely saying yes." A wide smile spread across his face as he finished the sentence. Their date hadn't even ended yet and Jackson already knew he would see Cristina again. It couldn't have gone any better better, could it?

"How can you choose Christina Aguilera over Madonna? She's the queen of pop!" Cristina exclaimed while Jackson guided her back to her apartment. They spent the whole ride back from the restaurant talking about music, trying to convince each other about their truth.

"Yeah, but she's been the queen of pop for the past twenty years. I think it's time for someone else to take over. And the muscles of her arms seriously freak me out." He grinned, knowing that Cristina wouldn't agree with him, no matter what he said. But at least it would make him spend a little more time with her before leaving for the night.

Cristina burst into laugh as she heard Jackson's last argument. She had to admit that he was right about the muscles thing, but not even that made her agree with him completely. "How about we compromise and agree that Christina Aguilera is the second best?" she suggested.

"Okay, but only if you agree that comedy films are better than horrors."

Cristina rolled her eyes before bursting into laugh again. "Okay. I agree. But you only think that because you haven't seen a good horror yet."

"You really have to have the last word, don't you?" Jackson asked with a smirk, wrapping his arms around Cristina's waist and pulling her closer to him.

"I do." She nodded her head, not even trying to deny it. She has always been stubborn and tried to convince others about her truth and she was glad that Jackson didn't mind it. In fact, he was the same.

"It was a really nice evening," he said after a while of silence, hoping that Cristina saw it the same way.

"It was," she agreed with a small smile forming on her lips. She tried not to expect too much from the date, but in the end she was pleasantly surprised. Jackson didn't turn out to be a freak and he also didn't run away during the dinner, leaving her to pay for everything. He'd been a perfect gentleman the whole evening.

He leaned over, kissing her one more time before saying goodbye. He didn't want to leave, but he also didn't want to push their relationship too much. If she wasn't ready to invite him to her apartment, then he was okay with it. After all, they already agreed they would go on another date, so there was no need to rush. After several seconds of wordless saying goodbye to each other he pulled away a little, still staring into Cristina's chocolate brown eyes.

Cristina bit her lip lower lip, knowing that she was about to break one of the rules she made herself, but she also knew that if she didn't do it, she would regret it. "Would you like to come inside?" she suggested and a small shy smile appeared on her lips. "I have wine. And... I could show you some of my photos. If you want."

"I'd love to." Jackson's face immediately lit up. He was hoping she would say these words and couldn't hide the silly smile when she did.

Cristina returned his smile and pulled her keys out of the small purse she had on her shoulder, unlocking the door to her apartment and walking in. "Make yourself comfortable and I'll bring the wine in a second." She pointed to the small couch, before walking over to the kitchen that was connected to the living room. "Do you want red wine or white?" Cristina asked, while she leaned to the bottom shelf of the fridge.

"Whichever makes you stay in that position a little longer. It's a really nice view," Jackson said jokingly, sticking his tongue out a little, while he watched her looking for the wine.

"Hey! I didn't give you a permission to look at my ass!" she hissed, but then burst into laugh. "That's why I have the third date rule. Guys inside my apartment always get this pervy."

"It's not my fault that you look so good in that tight dress." Jackson shrugged, putting on an innocent smile. During the evening he had noticed how those little compliments always made her smile and he decided to continue with it.

"You're horrible." Cristina laughed as she put two glasses and a bottle of wine on the coffee table. "But I like you," she added a few seconds later and winked at him. "So which photos do you want to see first? The ones from Africa or from Asia?" she asked and pulled out two big photo albums.

"You've been to Africa?" Jackson asked surprised. From the moment he and Cristina met she was talking about photography a lot, but never mentioned travelling to such an interesting country. But as he remembered the photos of gazelles in sunset he saw months ago it all suddenly made sense to him.

"Yeah. About a year and half ago," Cristina said nonchalantly like it wasn't a big deal. Thanks to her love for photography she had an opportunity to visit many interesting countries, but even though she loved that, there was nothing better than being back home.

Cristina opened the photo album, showing Jackson various photos, occasionally adding a little story about how it was taken. Jackson was amazed by Cristina's work, hanging on her every word.

"Wow, this one looks pretty close," Jackson said as he pointed to a close up photo of a lion.

"Yeah, it is." Cristina laughed as she remembered the time when she took the photo. Back then it wasn't funny at all, but now she just smiled. "I had to get really close to the lion so I could get the details. And believe me nothing is scarier than the feeling of lion's breath on your face."

"Wow, you must be brave." Jackson nodded admirably.

"I'm a thrill seeker." Cristina shrugged, trying not to make a big deal about that. Since she'd been a little kid, she always loved dangerous situations. Her parents tried to talk her out of it, but apart for being a thrill seeker she was also really stubborn. They continued looking through the photos, their hands touching as they laughed. "Damn, it's so hot here," Cristina said suddenly and took off her blazer, putting it on the side of the couch. She didn't know if it was the temperature in the room or if it was Jackson's presence that was suddenly making her feel so hot.

"It's definitely hotter now." Jackson chuckled as he watched her taking off the unnecessary clothes and the only thing that was now covering her shoulders were her dark curls.

"Does the lack of clothes make you feel uncomfortable?" she asked flirtatiously, while she ran her hand through her hair. She had to try really hard not to burst into laugh, when she saw him gasping and his eyes widening.

"No, not at all." He shook his head, trying to look away, but he couldn't. Cristina looked so hot and even though he tried to stop himself from imagining inappropriate things it was impossible. He felt his manhood getting harder and her flirtatious behavior wasn't helping it at all.

Cristina tried not to laugh when she saw how he was checking her out, mentally fighting with himself whether to rip off her clothes or not. "Maybe if you took off your jacket..." she suggested, biting her lip as she ran her hand down his arm, torturing him a little more.

"I think that's a good idea." Jackson nodded and quickly took off his jacket. He knew that Cristina was playing with him, but he also knew there was no way he would let her win. "Are you sure you wanna play this game? Because I'm damn good at it," he whispered to her ear in a husky voice while he put his hand on her thigh, slowly moving it up.

Cristina took a deep breath as she pushed back a moan in the back of her throat. If Jackson wanted to play with her, then she wouldn't make it easy for him. "So am I," she replied with a smirk before finally pressing her lips against his and pushing him onto the couch. The photos they were looking at just a minute ago were quickly forgotten as their tongues battled inside their mouths. They both became more and more aroused as their kisses became more passionate.

Jackson pulled away a little, trying to catch his breath before he ran his tongue along Cristina's earlobe, smirking when he heard her gasp for air. "You like this?" he asked and his hot breath tickled her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.

She mumbled a quiet 'yes', before her lips moved to his neck, lightly biting the soft skin, leaving bright red marks here and there. The heat between them was becoming unbearable with every upcoming second and they both hoped for just one thing. To take off each other's clothes. Cristina was already impatient so she slid her hand between them and slowly started to rub Jackson's crotch, knowing it would speed up the situation.

"Umm... Cristina…" he mumbled between kisses. "If you don't stop I won't be able to hold back much longer." He looked down at his pants that were slowly getting tighter as his arousal grew under her touch. He wanted to rip off her clothes at least as much as she wanted it, but he was also leaving her some space if she changed her mind and decided to back off.

"Do I look like I want you to hold back?" Cristina asked with a slight giggle.

"I've thought you have a third date rule." He raised his eyebrows, trying to look surprised, while doing a happy dance on the inside because Cristina has just indirectly invited him to her bed.

"I do, but rules are meant to be broken. And I've always been a rule breaker." She shrugged and put on an innocent smile.

"In that case…" he said and grabbed her legs, securely wrapping them around his waist. "I think we should move into your bedroom." He stood up from the couch, holding Cristina up with one arm, while his other hand was looking for the zipper of her dress. If she wasn't so busy giggling and lightly kissing his neck she would have surely been impressed how easy he lifted her with just one arm.

As Jackson walked into Cristina's bedroom, he put her on her feet again and let her already unzipped dress fall on the floor. She was not wearing a bra underneath and now she stood in front of Jackson almost completely naked. He took some time, while his eyes ran up and down her body and Cristina felt her cheeks getting red. When he didn't say anything for several never ending seconds, Cristina assumed he didn't like what he saw and awkwardly tried to cover her body with her hands.

"Don't do that," Jackson said softly, stopping her from covering herself.

"But you weren't saying anything so I assumed…" The worry and nervousness mixed in her voice, not knowing what was going on in Jackson's head.

"I was just thinking about how beautiful you look." He smiled at her, immediately making her feel better, before wrapping his arms around her again and laying her on the bed so they could continue exactly where they stopped. She quickly started to unbutton his shirt, tossing it away. A wide smile came across her face, when she noticed his precisely shaped abs. While Cristina was still smirking at him, staring at his masculine body he continued kissing her neck and chest, enjoying the smoothness of her skin beneath his lips. He paid some attention to her breasts before moving lower while whispering Cristina's name against her skin, making her shiver. She giggled when his hot breath tickled her and her reaction made him smile. "Do you want me to slow down?" He looked concerned, when he heard her gasp as he placed a small kiss on her lower abdomen. "Because I will if you don't feel up to it."

"No," she shook her head. She was glad Jackson has remained a gentleman the whole evening, but at this moment there was nothing she would want more than him. "I just think you still have too many clothes on," she added with a smirk, as her hands moved to his pants, undoing them and pulling them down to his knees.

He quickly pulled them off, tossing them to the rest of their clothes, before coming back to Cristina, capturing her lips between his. They continued kissing, exploring each other's mouth with their tongues, while their hands wandered all over their bodies.

Jackson's hand slowly slipped inside her panties, touching her in the all the right places. He loved the way she reacted to his touch. How she raised her hips when his fingers penetrated her and how she moaned when his thumb rubbed the most sensitive part of her body. He could feel how much she wanted him. But that wasn't enough for him. He wanted her to need him.

Cristina softly whimpered as the tension between her legs became unbearable. She had to admit that Jackson had a pair of very skilled hands that could be used for more than just painting. "Take them off," she whispered quietly, yet urgently, pointing to the tight piece of fabric that was suddenly driving her crazy. Just like Jackson. But he took his time, teasing her some more, before hooking his thumbs in the hem of her panties and pulling them down to her ankles and she impatiently kicked them away. The second they hit the ground, Cristina grabbed the back of his neck and pulled their faces closer, so they were looking into each other's eyes again. "I want you." The despair was obvious in her voice, but it only made Jackson want to tease her some more.

"I want you to need me." He smirked and moved down her body again. He pressed a few soft kisses on the inside of her thighs, slowly making his way up, until he reached her center and felt her trembling beneath his lips. Another impatient but pleasurable groan escaped her mouth when his tongue lightly entered her.

"Please, Jackson," she was begging him now and Jackson knew it was time to give her what she wanted. What they both wanted.

"Do you have..."

"In the bedside table," she answered sooner then he finished the question.

Just a few seconds later he was back on top of her, "You sure you want this?" he asked just to reassure himself, while his fingers softly caressed her cheek.

"I need this. I need you," she answered breathlessly.

He pressed his lips against hers one more time and entered her with one swift move, making them both gasp and moan in pleasure. "Oh, God..." he muttered under his breath and wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing himself to bury even deeper into her."It feels so... good. You... feel so good," Jackson whispered into her ear, nuzzling her neck and softly kissing her, while he slowly started to build his pace. He buried his face into her wild curls, inhaling the fresh smell of apple shampoo while whispering sweet nothings to her.

Cristina was running her hand through Jackson's short hair, while her heartbeat was getting faster and her breathing was getting heavier with every minute he was inside of her. She hadn't felt so good for a very long time and decided to fully enjoy every single second. As their moans got more frequent, Cristina closed her eyes, knowing that it wouldn't take too long for a wave of pleasure to take over her. "Don't stop... I'm gonna..." She tried to whisper, but Jackson's tongue filled her mouth again, putting her over the edge. Just a few seconds later her hips raised and a series of loud satisfied groans left her throat.

Jackson tried to last as long as possible, letting Cristina come first, but she wasn't making it easy for him. As he felt her walls clenching around him, he knew he couldn't hold off any longer and they both came in almost perfect sync. He fell on the bed next to her, both breathless and sweaty having the biggest silly smiles on their faces "This was..." Jackson started, still trying to catch his breath.

"Amazing," Cristina finished for him, finally opening her eyes and her smile grew even bigger when he leaned over, pressing their lips together one more time.

Jackson still couldn't believe that it was happening. A few weeks ago she was just a famous photographer he wanted to meet one day and now she was lying beside him, naked and sweaty, smiling at him because they'd just had the best sex he'd ever experienced. "I'll be right back," he whispered before disappearing in the bathroom for a second.

When he came back, Cristina was already lying on her stomach, resting her head in her hands with a small mysterious smile playing on her lips. "What?" he asked as he lay back back on the bed, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Nothing." She shook her head, not very convincingly.

"Come on. Tell me," he prompted her with a smile, while his hand ran through her hair, sticking one of her curls behind her ear.

"I just... When you came here today, you said I'll want to break my third date rule. And I laughed, thinking this wouldn't be the case. But you were right." She giggled, realizing that she had underestimated Jackson the whole evening.

"I'm always right." He smirked before kissing her again. They both laid there in a silence for a while, listening to their heartbeats getting back to normal, while quietly enjoying each other's presence in the blissful afterglow. "Do you want me to stay or should I..." Jackson decided to interrupt the silence with a question that has been bugging him for a while.

"You can stay if you want," Cristina said nonchalantly. She wasn't used to guys staying overnight, but as she already found out, with Jackson everything was different. And the idea of waking up next to such a hot man didn't sound bad either. "But we're not gonna cuddle." She raised her finger and Jackson just laughed.

"We will see," he replied with a grin and no sooner than she tried to resist, he rolled her on her back again and kissed her. "Because I'm a very good cuddler."

If their date wasn't perfect before, then now it definitely was.

* * *

**Please leave your thoughts about this chapter. I appreciate all of them :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**First I want to say I'm really really sorry for letting you all wait for so long. My beta was busy with real life stuff so she didn't have time to correct my chapters, but my wonderful friend helped me out so you can finally find out what happens next.**

* * *

The following morning Jackson woke up in a bed other than his own. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was still in Cristina's apartment. However, she was no longer lying beside him. He quickly put on his boxers and walked to the kitchen looking for her.

"Good morning," Cristina said with a big smile on her lips, when she spotted Jackson enter. She was wearing his shirt that came down to her mid thigh and her hair was a little messy, but he found that incredibly sexy.

"Good morning," he answered, wrapping his arm around her waist and putting a slight kiss on her lips. "Why are you up so early?"

"I woke up and thought I could do some breakfast. But then I realized I can't actually cook, so at least I made coffee," she explained and handed Jackson a cup. "And I also have to be at work in about an hour."

"It's Sunday," he said confused. It's been a while since Jackson had a 'normal work', but he knew that most of the people didn't work on Sunday. So he hoped that Cristina was one of them and they could spend the whole day together.

"I know, but the magazine deadline is tomorrow and I need to finish a few things." Cristina looked at him apologetically. She really wanted to spend the day with him, but she's been postponing her work for a very long time and she couldn't do it anymore.

"Oh, so no morning sex?" he asked with a cheeky grin, while his hand wandered under his shirt that she wore, cupping her ass with one hand, while he tried to balance the cup he held in the other hand.

Cristina giggled. "I didn't say that," she whispered in a seducing tone, stepping closer to him and slowly slipping her hand under the hem of his boxers. "But it'll need to be quick."

"Anyway you want it." A huge grin spread across his face as he put the cup of coffee back on the table, before pushing Cristina towards the bathroom, kissing her sensuously. _Hell of a way to start a day._ They both thought as the door behind them closed with a click.

"You're late," Meredith announced with a hint of annoyance in her voice, when Cristina rushed into the kitchenette fifteen minutes later than usually.

"I know," Cristina replied and quickly filled her cup of coffee before sinking into a chair opposite Meredith.

"You're never late." Meredith looked at her suspiciously. Cristina wasn't the most punctual person, but she has never been so late for their morning coffee meetings. And considering the fact that Cristina had a date with Jackson last night, Meredith could easily guess the reason for her late arrival.

"I know," she said, sipping from her coffee. She could feel Meredith's eyes staring at her, impatiently waiting for some details or any kind of information about her date.

"Did something delay you? Or should I say someone?" Meredith asked. A big grin formed on her face as she saw Cristina's ears getting red, signalizing she was right.

Cristina hated when that happened, when the redness on her face gave away more than she was willing to admit. "So what? So I spent night with Jackson. Big deal." She shrugged trying not to make a fuss about it, even thought she knew it was more than just sex. She was falling for him. Even faster than she thought she would. But during those few hours they spent together, she'd been happy. Truly happy.

"What happened to your third date rule?" Meredith asked curiously. She knew that Cristina had a couple of rules and one of them was not to invite a guy to her place sooner than on the third date. Unless it was supposed to be a one night stand of course. But that didn't happen very often.

"Have you ever believed that crap?" Cristina gave her the look that told her it wasn't the first time she broke one of her rules.

"You're right. So tell me, how was it?"

"I'm not gonna tell you anything." She shook her head, trying to resist the urge to tell Meredith every detail. Cristina always tried to keep her private life private, but at the same time she was dying to boast about the amazing night she had.

"Oh, c'mon. Just a few details. Please!" Meredith pleaded, hoping Cristina would reveal at least a little bit.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in my love life?"

"I have a nine month old baby and a busy husband. Listening to your stories is the closest thing to sex I can get." The tone of her voice was almost desperate and Cristina decided not to torture her friend anymore.

"Okay, then." She raised her hands, pretending to give up. "I will describe it all in one word," Cristina said before mouthing 'wow'.

"Seeing the big grin on your face I suppose it was a good wow."

"It was a hot, amazing and mind-blowing wow," Cristina explained, almost moaning at the thought of the previous night. "It's like when you have an itch for a really long time and then someone appears to scratch it. And Jackson scratches it really good."

"I can't even remember the last time Derek really scratched me." Meredith sighed, curling her lips into a scowl. She loved her daughter and her husband, but seeing how happy Cristina was right now, she started to miss the first phases of relationship. The ones where Derek and her were getting to know each other and spent every night having amazing sex. "It's more like a slight stroke every now and then." She frowned and pursued her lips, trying to remember the last time she and Derek had a night just for themselves.

After those words there was a moment of silence, while they just enjoyed their morning coffee, both lost in their own thoughts. "If I want to finish my work before noon I should get to it right now," Cristina said as she got up from her chair and put the cup into the sink.

"What's happening at the noon?" Meredith asked, knowing from the smile on Cristina's face that it probably had to do something with Jackson.

"Jackson is picking me up so we can go get lunch together."

"Three dates in a week? You must really like him." Meredith laughed.

A genuine smile appeared on Cristina's lips before answering. "I do," she said and left the kitchen, knowing she still had a lot of work ahead of her.

"Hey Meredith." Jackson greeted her after he lightly knocked on the door of the kitchenette and walked in. "Is Cristina here?"

"Hi." Meredith smiled, when she saw the tall man. Now she could totally see why Cristina fell for him so quickly. In the daylight, his eyes were even more intense and his abs were clearly visible under the thin fabric of his shirt. "I think she's in her office," she blurted out quickly after a while of silent staring at him and leaned over to her daughter who was sitting in a car seat on the table. She hoped Jackson didn't notice that she was checking him out a little. "If you look after my girl for a second, I'll let her know you're here," Meredith said, still trying to avoid those piercing eyes.

"No problem," Jackson answered with a smile that would make any woman weak in her knees and Meredith quickly left the kitchen, heading towards Cristina's office.

She knocked on the door and then opened it, not even waiting for Cristina's permission. "There is a very handsome man waiting for you in the kitchenette. Should I tell him to wait or are you too halted with work?" Meredith asked with smirk. "Because if you leave him there alone for more than five minutes, I'm pretty sure there will be someone who will try to seduce him." She laughed, as she knew she was totally right. It wouldn't take too long before any of their female co-workers noticed him and tried to throw themselves at him. But Meredith couldn't really blame them for that.

"Jackson? Oh, crap. He was supposed to pick me up at noon and it's already 12:10. I totally forgot about time." Cristina slapped her forehead when she looked at the clock, realizing she was late for her lunch with Jackson. Before he dropped her off at her work that morning they agreed to go to a little Italian restaurant for a lunch. They both really enjoyed the previous evening and couldn't wait to see each other again. However, Cristina really quickly forgot about time when she threw herself into the work, trying to finish everything before the deadline. "Tell him I'll be there in a minute," she said and quickly started to pack her things.

"Will do." Meredith nodded and left with a silly smile on her lips. She has never seen her friend acting like this. It was like she suddenly turned into a love struck teenage girl. But at least she was happy. And Meredith was happy for her. When she came back to the kitchenette, she was caught by surprise, when she saw Jackson holding Adrienne, while gently rocking her in his arms and humming something into her ear.

"After you left she started to cry, so I hope you don't mind I picked her up," Jackson said apologetically when he noticed the strange expression on Meredith's face, when she spotted him holding her daughter. "I guess she just missed her mum. But I managed to stop those tears." He smiled at the little light-haired girl in his arms. Apparently his charm was working on women of all ages, because Adrienne was now giving him a cute little smile.

"It's okay. Cristina will be here soon." Meredith said before coming closer to Jackson and taking her daughter back to her arms. "Come to mama, Addie. You are too young for such a handsome guys like Jackson. There will be enough time for that." Meredith and Jackson both laughed as she spoke to Adrienne.

"Enjoy it while she's so little. Kids grow up really fast." Jackson sighed and stroked the little girl's back.

"They do," Meredith nodded. It felt like yesterday when Adrienne was born and now she was almost a year old. The time really ran fast. "Do you have any kids?" she asked curiously. It probably wasn't the best question to start with, but seeing as natural Jackson looked when holding Adrienne woke up a whole lot of questions in Meredith's head.

"I don't know about any," Jackson answered with laugh. "But maybe in the future." He smiled and then there was a moment of awkward silence. Meredith had so many questions she wanted to ask him, to find out if he was worth Cristina, but she stopped herself. Her best friend would probably kill her if she tried to scare away her new boyfriend like that.

"I hope you're aware of the fact, that as Cristina's best friend I have the right to kick your ass if you hurt her," Meredith said suddenly to change the topic. _Good move when you try not to scare him off._ Meredith thought, chuckling a little because even her thoughts sounded sarcastic.

"If I wasn't aware of that before, now I totally am." Jackson laughed. "But don't worry I'll do my best."

"Good. Because she's been through enough and she doesn't deserve to get hurt again." She raised her finger to show Jackson that she was serious about her words.

"She's special." Jackson's eyes lit up immediately when he mentioned Cristina. It felt a little crazy, but he was falling in love with her. Even faster than he thought was possible. He hoped she felt the same way and luckily for him, she did.

"Who is special?" Cristina asked with a wide smile when she entered the kitchen and greeted Jackson with a peck on the lips.

"You," he answered, pulling her closer to him and kissing her one more time. Jackson couldn't get enough of their kisses. The feeling of her full soft lips lightly brushing against his was too good to stop.

"I hope Mer didn't try to scare you off." Cristina said when she and Jackson finally pulled away from each other and glared at Meredith. She knew that her friend would try to protect her and that she probably already told Jackson, what will happen to him if he hurts her.

"It will take much more than one petite woman to scare me off." Jackson smirked and Meredith glared at him. "But I'm aware of all the parts of my body that will get kicked if I happen to hurt you. So I promise that's not gonna happen."

"Good. Because Meredith is stronger than she looks." She winked at him and Meredith nodded.

"Maybe we should go before you really scare me off." They all laughed and then Cristina with Jackson quickly said their goodbyes to Meredith and Adrienne, before leaving the kitchen, holding hands. None of them noticed that there was another pair of eyes watching them the whole time.

After a light lunch in one of the best Italian restaurants in Seattle, Jackson suggested to take a walk in the nearest park. Cristina wasn't the type of girl who would be into romantic walks in the park, but once Jackson looked at her with his soft, yet intense eyes she wasn't able to say no to him. A short walk couldn't hurt, could it?

"I haven't been here for years," Cristina thought out loud and took a piece of cotton candy, putting it into her mouth. She had to admit that the walk in a park wasn't such a bad idea after all. The cool spring air was pleasantly refreshing and it was a nice change from her dark and dull office. She took a deep breath, inhaling the smell scent of early blooming flowers and freshly mowed grass and it immediately brought a smile to her face

"It's not Africa, but it's still pretty here." Jackson grinned, stealing some of the fluffy sugar from Cristina. "And it's romantic."

"I didn't know you were a romantic type of guy," Cristina said smirking.

"I took you for a dinner to a really fancy restaurant yesterday. Wasn't that romantic enough?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Maybe his steps to make Cristina fall in love with him weren't as obvious as he thought. Or maybe she was just pretending not to see it to tease him a little.

"It wasn't just one of the steps in your 'how to charm any woman in five seconds' program?"

"Nope." Jackson shook his head slowly before stopping in his walk and pulling Cristina closer to him. "I made up this step just for you," he smiled and softly captured her lips with his. Cristina immediately responded to his kiss, her fingertips tracing along his stubble-covered jaw. When their tongues touched, they quickly forgot they were still in the middle of the park full of people who tried to enjoy their Sunday afternoon and the light kiss turned into a heavy make out session.

"Get yourself a room. This is a park." Annoyed voice of an older woman brought them back to the reality and they quickly pulled away from each other, their cheeks reddened, due to embarrassment. Right now they both felt like teenagers that just got caught by their parents while they were making out on the backseat of a car. They quickly apologized to the older lady who was still glaring at them.

"I guess we should keep walking before someone calls the police," Jackson suggested and they both burst into laughter.

"Good idea." Cristina nodded, still laughing a little and put her head on Jackson's shoulder, slowly walking away together.

"Thank you for the nice afternoon," Cristina said with a smile, when Jackson walked her to the doors of her apartment. After the little incident in the park, they decided it would be better to head home.

"The pleasure is all mine." Jackson smiled and leaned over to kiss her. "Sweet as a cotton candy," he whispered against her lips and stuck one of her curls behind her ear, while his light green eyes were still glued to her chocolate brown ones.

"You're just imagining that." Cristina giggled, pulling him in for another sweet kiss. She couldn't get enough of their kisses either.

"Maybe, but it feels real." He shrugged with his arms still wrapped around her small waist.

"Do you want to come inside or do you wanna risk that one of my neighbors will see us making out and actually call the police?" she asked, pursing her lips and then bursting into laugh.

Jackson just sighed, not happy about the answer he was about to give her. "You have no idea how much I'd like to come inside, but there is a dozen of unfinished paintings in my apartment and if I don't refuse your offer, I'll never get to them. What means that I won't get any money for them and I'll have no place to live," he said apologetically. He'd love to spend the rest of the day with Cristina, but after he dropped her at work that morning he got a call from one of his clients, asking whether the painting for them is already finished and Jackson had to admit, that he had barely started. The beautiful Asian kept his mind occupied the whole week and he couldn't really focus on his work. "I'll make it up to you. I promise," he added when he saw the disappointed expression on her face.

"You better. Or I'll have to find someone better than you." Cristina grinned at him and stuck her tongue out. She really wished Jackson would stay, but she also understood that he had his work too. Even if it meant staying at home for hours, starring at a blank canvas.

"You wouldn't do that. There is no one better than me and you know that," Jackson said confidently like he always did and gave her one of his flawless shiny smiles.

"Don't be so sure, Mr. Perfect." She laughed and playfully punched him in the arm. "Guys are lining up for me. I'm pretty sure I'll find someone."

Jackson just shook his head smiling and leaned over to kiss Cristina one more time before leaving. "Goodbye, Cristina, and tell those guys to find a different line to stand in. There is no place for them in this one."

"Will do," Cristina giggled. She was pleasantly surprised how comfortable she felt with Jackson. They've known each other for just a week, but it felt like they've been dating for months. They could joke around, make inappropriate comments and it wasn't weird at all. "Goodbye." She shot him one of her best smiles and watched him disappear behind the corner, before finally unlocking her apartment and walking inside. She knew this smile wouldn't disappear so quickly. Because she was happier than she has been in months.

* * *

**I hope you liked this chapters and that you will leave a review with your thoughts.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the wonderful reviews for the last chapter. I hope you will like this one at least as much as the previous one :)**

* * *

"What would you say to a double date?" Jackson asked casually during dinner. He and Cristina had been dating a little over a month and every Friday he picked her up after work so they could spend some time together. Sometimes they decided to go to a restaurant and have a fancy dinner and other times they just ended in Jackson's apartment having hot sex all night and then eating cold pizza in the bed. This week they picked up some Chinese and head to Cristina's apartment. So here they were, eating some Kung Pao and Spring Rolls while watching old cheesy movies.

"A double date?" Cristina lifted her eyebrows in surprise, no longer paying attention to the TV.

"It was not my idea." Jackson raised his hands innocently, when he saw that Cristina didn't seem to be very excited about his suggestion. "Mark asked me about it today. He said that Lexie read about it in one girly magazine. It's supposed to spice up the relationship or something like that."

"I don't think our relationship needs to spice up. We barely started dating." Cristina pursed her lips, as if feeling offended that Jackson said their relationship was getting boring.

"Really? Because it's Friday night and we're in your apartment, eating Chinese while watching TV. I could imagine more interesting things to do."

"I just... I don't know if double date is the best idea," she said and her eyes came back to the television screen, hoping the conversation was over. But it wasn't.

"Why not? I think it could be fun." Jackson didn't stop asking. He got quite excited about the idea of going on a double date with Mark and Lexie and he thought Cristina would like it too. But for some unknown reason she didn't seem to be eager about it at all.

"I don't have the best experiences with double dates," she replied and Jackson gave her a questioning look. She let out a loud sigh when she realized that this answer obviously wasn't enough for him. They never talked about their previous relationships or dating experiences, thinking it would be more awkward than useful, but now it seemed to be time to break this unwritten rule. "Once I was on a double date and my boyfriend kept staring at the other girl's boobs the whole night. I felt so embarrassed but I had to sit next to him and pretend I didn't see it. After that night he obviously wasn't my boyfriend anymore and I told myself I'll never go on a double date again."

"You know I'm not like that, right? I'm not into boobs. I'd rather watch your ass the whole evening." He laughed, ignoring the death glare that Cristina sent him. "And on top of that, Lexie's my best friend's girlfriend. Even if I was interested in her and I'm not, I wouldn't do it to Mark. And most importantly I wouldn't do it to you." He took her hand into his and gave it a light kiss.

It was really hard to resist those puppy eyes that Jackson tried to use to persuade her, but Cristina shook her head. She didn't want to risk their relationship falling apart because one of his friends brought up the idea of double date.

"C'mon, Crissy. It's gonna be fun Just give it a try." Jackson didn't stop trying. He knew that Cristina could be really stubborn when she wanted, but he wouldn't give up so easily.

"Don't call me that." Cristina frowned at the nickname Jackson gave her. She hated when people gave her nicknames and Jackson wasn't an exception.

"Why? I think it's cute."

"That's the main reason why I don't want you to use that," she said, the gloomy expression wasn't leaving her face.

Jackson could see that his girlfriend wasn't in a good mood, but decided not to ask why, worried it would just make the situation worse. So instead of talking he just wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. "So what am I supposed to tell Mark? Do you wanna go with them?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. He hoped that Cristina changed her mind. Even though Jackson loved the evenings that they spent alone, just lying in each other's arms, he really wanted to go out and show what kind, beautiful girlfriend he had to as many people as possible. "It would make me really happy if you decided to get to know my friends better." He gave it one last try.

Cristina just let out a loud sigh and rolled her eyes. She knew that Jackson probably wouldn't shut up about it until she agreed so why would she even try? "Tell him we'll go," she answered and Jackson's face brightened again. She still wasn't completely convinced that it would be a success, but she knew she should give it a try. If not for her at least for Jackson. "But I have one condition." Cristina raised her finger, letting him know that it wouldn't be so easy after all. "I get to choose where we go."

"Whatever you want." Jackson smiled before leaning over to her and softly capturing her lips with his.

Cristina just finished her makeup and put on some big earrings when she heard the sound of the doorbell. "I'm coming," she yelled from the bedroom, and hurried to open the door, while trying not to trip in the high heels. She knew that later that evening she would regret the shoes she chose, but decided to wear them anyway.

"Wow! You look fantastic," Jackson said instead of greeting when Cristina opened the door on her apartment and let him in.

"I always look fantastic." Cristina grinned and he pulled her in for a long kiss. "But you don't look bad either," she added when they pulled away from each other and ran her hand over his chest. "It almost makes me want to stay at home and just rip those clothes of you."

"I'm sure there will be time for that later tonight." Jackson winked at her. "But the cab is already waiting for us in front of the building so just finish dressing or whatever and we can go."

"Actually, I'm finished," she said as she took a reassuring look in the mirror.

"Wait, that's all you're gonna wear?" He raised his eyebrows, pointing to the alarmingly short dress that Cristina was wearing. The dress was barely covering her ass and he could swear that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath.

"Didn't you say that I look fantastic?" She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I did. And you do look fantastic. And hot. But... Maybe too hot for going out in this," he added the last few words in a whisper, knowing that he probably sounded ridiculous. But he really didn't want other men to check Cristina out because she looked so sexy.

"Oh, c'mon. We're not going to church. We're going to a night club. This is what people wear there." She rolled her eyes. "And this dress doesn't even have a low cleavage. Besides I have nothing else to wear and the cab is waiting for us. We have to go."

Jackson just sighed, knowing that he wouldn't win this argument anyway and rather gave up right away. But at least he had to make sure that none of those guys would get near Cristina.

"Looks like Cristina is getting a lot of attention. Aren't you jealous?" Mark asked with a grin and sipped from his whiskey, while he and Jackson watched their girlfriends dancing wildly. They had arrived at the nightclub that Cristina chose less than half an hour ago and she along with Lexie were already on the dance floor, not wasting a single second of that night. Jackson and Mark promised to join them later, after encouraging themselves with a drink first. None of them was a big fan of dancing, but since their girlfriends were clearly enjoying it, they didn't want to ruin the evening for them.

"No," Jackson lied and his grip on the glass he was holding tightened as he brought it to his lips. Of course he was jealous. His very hot girlfriend who was wearing just a tight short dress was dancing in a club full of very horny men and all Jackson could do was to send them angry glares.

"So you are." Mark laughed when he saw Jackson gnashing his teeth, every time some men got close to Cristina.

"How is it possible that you aren't?" Jackson asked because he didn't understand how could Mark stay so calm even though his girlfriend was dancing with a quite drunk man whose eyes wandered to the part of her body that he wasn't supposed to look at.

"It took me a long time. But I trust her," Mark explained shortly. He knew it probably wouldn't satisfy Jackson's question, but it was true. It took him some time to completely trust his girlfriend that she would never betray him or cheat on him, but now he did.

"I trust Cristina. I just don't trust the guys around her," he said and took a sip of his drink, when suddenly he heard a conversation at the next table.

"Do you see that sexy Asian? The one with curly hair?" An unknown blonde haired man asked, nodding his head towards Cristina. "I'm wondering whether she's so wild in the bed too."

"Fifty bucks that I'll get to find out in less than an hour," the other guy that was sitting next to him said. "She doesn't seem to be hard to get." They both burst into laugh and shook their hands as a sign of a deal.

Jackson couldn't listen to things like that any longer and jumped from his seat, heading to Cristina, who was still dancing in the middle of the dance floor and clearly enjoying all the attention she was getting. Mark tried to stop him before he would do something stupid, but he wasn't successful and all he could do was to watch his best friend as the wave of jealousy came over him.

"Hey? What are you doing? Stop! You're embarrassing me," Cristina yelled over the loud music, when Jackson gently grabbed her elbow, pulling her back to the table where Mark was sitting.

"I'm stopping you from embarrassing yourself."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, still not understanding what was going on. A few seconds ago she was dancing and enjoying the evening, thinking that Jackson did the same and now all she could see in his eyes was anger.

"I'm talking about all the men who are drooling over you and making bets about who will get you to the bed faster." The anger in him was growing the more he talked about it. He couldn't stand the fact that some strangers were talking about his girlfriend like that. And even though it wasn't really Cristina's fault and he didn't want to yell at her, he couldn't help the flow of his emotions.

"Oh, please stop overacting," she scoffed, crossing her arms. Cristina's couldn't believe Jackson's behavior. Even if there were some men checking her out or trying to molest her, she would never agree to go with them. Didn't he trust her?

"I'm not overacting. You're mine and I don't want any of those pervs to get near you."

"Well that's too bad. Because I'm not your possession and I can do what I want!" She shouted, clenching her fists in anger, before walking away and all Jackson could was to be mad at himself for not thinking his words through before letting them out.

After the fight with Jackson, Cristina headed to the ladies restroom. She needed a minute for herself to think about what has just happened and she knew that this would be the only place where Jackson couldn't follow her. She locked herself in one of the stalls closed the lid of the toilet seat and _sat_ down. She hid her face in her hands and took a deep breath, trying to fight the tears building in her eyes. It's been her first real fight with Jackson and the way he talked about her brought some painful memories of her previous boyfriend. After their break up she decided not to let anyone to act like they owned her. So what Jackson just did triggered a wave of unwanted emotions. "Stupid PMS," she cursed under her breath, blaming the hormones for the sudden changes of her mood. Cristina has always been a little moody and hot-tempered, but when it came to the time of the month, she was literally a time-bomb. And even though she knew it wasn't right to blame Jackson for all of this, she was too proud to admit that she could be a little faulty too.

After she dried the few tears from her face, she left the bathroom stall, not noticing that she wasn't alone in the room.

"He really likes you," Lexie said as a matter of fact, trying to find out what kind of mood Cristina was in from the look on her face. After she saw Cristina and Jackson fighting, she came back to their table and Mark explained her what was going on. Apparently Jackson wanted to be an overprotective boyfriend, but it all turned out wrong.

"What?" Cristina asked, pretending she had no idea what was Lexie talking about. She knew that Mark and Jackson probably sent Lexie after her to calm her down a little, but she wouldn't let it be that easy. If Jackson wanted her to forgive him, he had to do something himself.

Lexie just sighed when she saw that Cristina was still mad. And she couldn't blame her. A jealous boyfriend was never a good thing. But she had known Jackson for a long time and she also knew that he acted like that because he cared. Even though it wasn't the best way to show it. "Jackson. The look in his eyes… I have known him for a quite some time and I can tell you I have never seen him this happy. You shouldn't be mad at him."

"Then why is he acting like an idiot and embarrassing me in front of everyone?" Cristina pursed her lips in anger and crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's exactly the reason why he is acting like an idiot. He cares about you and he can't stand the thought of someone hurting you."

"He should be the one telling me this. Not you. If he wants to solve this problem, the he needs to do this alone," Cristina said and turned around on her heel, leaving the restroom.

When they both came back to their table, they noticed Mark and Jackson were already paying the bill, preparing to leave. After the little incident they decided it would be better to move elsewhere.

"Are we leaving?" Lexie was the first one to ask.

"Yeah. We thought that maybe we could move somewhere else," Jackson replied, glancing at Cristina who was still avoiding his look. Despite what Lexie told her, she was still mad. And if Jackson wanted to change that, he would need to try a little harder.

A few minutes later they were all sitting in a cab and nobody except for Jackson knew where they were heading. The ride was quiet and a little uncomfortable since Cristina still wasn't talking to Jackson and the small talk Mark and Lexie tried to start wasn't really helping it. Luckily for all of them it didn't take long before the cab stopped in front of a small building, quiet music coming out of it.

"I didn't know this place still exists. I haven't been here for years," Mark said when they entered Joe's, the bar that he used to visit in his college years. It's been a few years since then, but it looked almost the same.

"You know this place?" Lexie asked, looking around the dark, yet cozy little bar, wondering why Mark never told her about it. It looked like a nice place to hang out.

"Yeah, when Jackson and I were in college, we used to come here all the time." Mark nodded. "It's the best place when you want to spill your guts."

"Well, look who came to see his old favorite place. I wondered what happened to you," a man who stood behind the bar said with a grin on his lips, looking at Mark.

"Joe! Good to see you again." Mark smiled at the bartender. Seeing him after such a long time he remembered all the evenings he spent there, talking to Joe about his current girlfriends. "I thought this place no longer existed. If I knew it's still here, I would definitely come."

"This place has been closed for a while, but now I'm back again. So I hope I'll see you here more often." Mark just nodded, promising that he would definitely come. "And who is this lovely girl? I haven't seen her here before." Joe asked as he turned to Jackson and Cristina who was still a little angry.

"That's Cristina, my girlfriend," Jackson introduced her, hoping the last two words would still be true despite what happened and they all became quiet for a while.

"So what are you going to order?" Joe asked to break the awkward silence.

"Whiskey for us and tequila for the girls, right?" Mark looked at everyone to make sure he was right and Joe nodded.

"It'll be there in a second."

After placing their order the four of them moved to the table in the corner of the room. Lexie tried to carry on a conversation, but despite her effort it didn't make the situation between Jackson and Cristina any less awkward.

"Do you want to dance?" Mark asked all of sudden when his favorite song started to play and Lexie just nodded with a big smile on her face. "Excuse us," he said as they both got up from the table, heading to the small dance floor in the middle of the bar while holding hands. They were glad they finally had a reason to leave Cristina and Jackson alone for a while so they could talk.

"Are you mad?" Jackson asked, when he couldn't stand the awkward silence between him and Cristina any longer. Since the moment he stopped her wild dance in the night club, she barely looked at him. He had no idea what was going on in her head, but he assumed it wasn't anything good.

"Yes," she answered shortly, still avoiding looking at him. She knew that once she would see his puppy eyes, she couldn't be mad any longer. And she didn't want to let him win so easily. Even though she knew he eventually would. But she decided to make him earn it first.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did. I was… jealous. The guys at the next table were making bets how fast they can get you to their bed and I couldn't just sit there and pretend I didn't hear it. I had to do something," he said and rubbed the back of his neck, while trying to find a way to make Cristina talk to him again. Even though they have been dating just for a couple of weeks, he already found out how stubborn she could be.

"I can take care of myself," she said, her eyes still glued to the table. Cristina always hated when men acted like she wasn't strong enough to take care of herself. Because she was. And Jackson knew that too. Yet, he would do anything to protect her.

"I know. I know," Jackson whispered and took Cristina's hand into his, lightly brushing his finger over the back of it. "I'm sorry I talked about you like you were my possession. That was a stupid thing to do. But I'm your boyfriend. I want to look after you. To make sure that nothing happens to you. Don't you see it, Cristina?"

Cristina didn't say anything and just pressed her lips together, thinking about what Jackson just said. He really seemed to be concerned about her. But she couldn't get rid the feeling, that maybe, one day he would turn into a crazy jealous boyfriend who would want control her every move.

There was a moment of silence between them, both lost in their thoughts. While Jackson was trying to come up with something to make it up to Cristina, she was thinking about what Lexie told her. Maybe Jackson really was acting like an idiot because he cared. Maybe he wasn't like the other guys she dated. And the only way to find out was to risk it. "I think Lexie was right," Cristina said, finally looking up into Jackson's eyes.

"About what?" he asked a little confused. He had no idea what Lexie said to Cristina in the restroom. She only told him she would talk to her and try to help him. And so far he didn't think she was very successful.

"You really are into me." A small genuine smile formed on her lips, as she saw him nervously looking at her, waiting for her answer.

Jackson let out a breath he didn't know was holding and also smiled a little. "Of course I am. And you're driving me crazy. Don't you see it?"

"Sorry. I won't be any different." She replied and put on her innocent face.

"I don't want you to be different," Jackson said and leaned over to capture her lips with his, happy when she didn't pull away and kissed him back instead. "So… Do you wanna dance?" he asked a little hesitantly.

"I thought you said you can't dance." Cristina smirked, torturing him some more, even though she knew that eventually she would agree.

"I can't, but maybe you could teach me." Jackson winked at her and Cristina's smile grew bigger.

She wasn't sure whether she should resist a little longer and torture him some more or if she should just give into Jackson's mesmerizing eyes and enjoy the rest of the night. Luckily for Jackson it didn't take her too long to decide, especially when she saw the sweet smile on his lips. "Okay," she said and shrugged her shoulders. "Let's dance."

* * *

**Please leave your reviews and comments. I appreciate them a lot and they encourage me to write :)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure it's not gonna be weird? I barely know your friends," Jackson asked with a with an edge of nervousness in his voice, when he stopped his car in front of Meredith's house. He wasn't used to being nervous when it came to meeting new people, but this time he wanted to to make a good impression. He wanted them to see that he was good enough for Cristina.

"It's going to be fine. At least you get to know them," Cristina said and grabbed a pink gift bag from the backseat of the car.

"But it's your goddaughter's birthday party. I think there are better times to get to know your friends."

"Don't try to get out of this. Meredith wanted me to invite you. It would be rude if you didn't come. Besides, Mark and Lexie will be there. So it's not like you don't know anyone." Cristina rolled her eyes and lightly pressed the doorbell. She understood that Jackson was a little uncomfortable with the thought of joining a party where he barely knew anyone, but she really wanted to officially introduce him to her friends. After all, they have been dating for almost two months now and he kept visiting her at her work so he had already met many of her coworkers.

The front door finally opened and Meredith greeted them with a big smile. "Hey! I'm so glad you came. Just come inside. Everybody is already here," she said and guided them both to the living room where the rest of their friends were chatting vividly with each other.

"Hi, little girl. Happy birthday!" Cristina exclaimed with a smile, as she walked towards Derek who was holding Adrienne and pressed a light kiss on her cheek. Even though Cristina always said she was horrible with kids, when it came to her little goddaughter she was amazing. She didn't know where it was coming from, but when she was near her, she couldn't stop smiling.

"She was actually asking for you." Derek laughed, bouncing his daughter in his arms, making her giggle.

"Of course she was. She loves me." Cristina grinned. "And she'll love me even more when she'll see what I bought her." She raised the gift bag she was holding, before putting it on the table with the rest of the gifts.

Jackson was still standing in the doorway, just silently watching everyone, thinking whether it was a good idea to come to the party. Everybody in the room was already chatting with someone, laughing and he didn't know what to do. When Cristina saw him, she just rolled her eyes before walking towards him and grabbed his hand. "C'mon, Jackson. Don't act like it's your first day in a new school. Eat something, talk to someone and have fun. Try it for me," she said, dragging him to the middle of the living room.

"Okay, okay. I'll try. But it's not my fault if your friends end up hating me." Jackson sighed as a sign of giving up. Cristina just laughed and gave him a light peck on the lips, before disappearing in the crowd of the people. '_Okay, Jackson. Let's socialize.'_ He thought to himself as he put on a light smile on his lips and moved to the table with food. Where else could he find some new friends if not near the food?

"So you and Yang, huh?" Alex asked as he took a bite of the sandwich he was holding in his hand. "I thought she was too focused on her work to actually date someone." Moments after Jackson walked to the table with food and drinks, Alex had appeared beside him and they casually began to talk. As Jackson already found out, Alex was one of the journalist in Seattle's Metropolitan therefore he knew Cristina quite well.

"Alex! Be nice!" Izzie said in an angry tone as she suddenly appeared beside him. As her eyes rested on who her boyfriend was talking to her face immediately lit up. "Hi, I'm Izzie. You're Jackson, right? We haven't officially met, but I've heard a lot about you. And from what I see, Cristina definitely wasn't lying when she said that her boyfriend is hot."

Jackson laughed at Izzie's last sentence. He didn't expect Cristina to talk about him that way, but he felt flattered. He wondered how much she told her friends about him. That was definitely something he had to ask her about. "Yeah, I guess that would be me," he answered with a laugh and sipped from the beer in his hand.

"Hello, I'm still here. And the last time I checked I was your boyfriend," Alex said sounding offended, when he noticed that Izzie was clearly paying much more attention to Jackson than to him.

"Oh, don't worry babe. You know I love you. I'm just trying to be friendly." She pressed a light kiss to Alex's cheek as an apology before turning her attention back to Jackson. "So you're a painter? That must be interesting. Do you expose your paintings somewhere?"

"Excuse her. She's just super excited when she meets new people," Alex interrupted her rolling his eyes which earned him a light punch in the shoulder from Izzie.

"It's okay. I don't mind." Jackson shook his head with a smile. "Yes I am a painter and it's definitely an interesting job. But I'm not exposing it anywhere. I'm not famous enough to do that. But hopefully, in the future I'll have my own exhibition."

"In that case you'll have to let us know. We'll come to see it," she said excitedly. "Anyway..."

"Looks like Jackson already found someone to talk to," Meredith noted and nodded her head towards where Jackson, Alex and Izzie were standing and talking.

"I'm glad he did. He didn't want to come because he thought it would be awkward because he barely knows anyone here." Cristina rolled her eyes, still not understanding why it was such a big deal for Jackson.

"And as I can see, you forced him to come anyway." Meredith smirked at her best friend. She knew that when Cristina really wanted something she would get it. No matter how hard she had to try. There was no way Jackson could have avoided this party as Cristina wanted him to come.

"I have my ways." Cristina grinned, sticking her tongue out a little. "I just want him to meet my friends. Is that bad?"

"Nope. Not at all." Meredith shook her head. "If you two really are serious about your relationship, then it's good when he knows your friends. None of us are going cut of his head if he isn't perfect," she said and they both burst into laugh.

"Okay, I get your point," Cristina agreed when the wave of laughter finally faded. "We are serious about our relationship. At least I am." A genuine smile spread on her lips when she talked about her relationship with Jackson. Even though they hadn't yet discussed it, Cristina assumed that the things between them were becoming serious. She hoped that Jackson felt the same way.

Meredith didn't say anything and just smiled, also hoping that Jackson was the one for Cristina. He seemed to be a good guy and she knew that her best friend deserved someone just like that.

"So, how do you like the party?" Cristina asked Jackson as he sat beside her on the couch. "You still think it was a bad idea?"

"I hate to admit it but you were right," he said with a grin and pressed a light kiss on her cheek. "Thank you for dragging me here."

Cristina smiled, happy that Jackson liked the party and actually tried to get to know some of her friends. "I saw you talking to Alex and Izzie," she said as she slowly started to bounce Adrienne, who was sitting in her lap, getting bored because her godmother suddenly wasn't paying much attention to her.

"Yeah. They're both nice. Even though Izzie is a little bit too chatty." He chuckled a little and continued. "But she and Alex seem to make a good couple. Not as good as we do, but nice."

"You'll get used to that." Cristina laughed when hementioned they made a better couple than Alex and Izzie did. "Of course we do. We're hot."

"Very deeply hot," Jackson added with a smirk, pulling Cristina in for a passionate kiss.

"Someone is jealous," Cristina said laughing when Adrienne started to pull on her shirt to interrupt their kiss and demand some attention.

"Of course she is. She'd like to have me for herself in the future. Right?" Jackson asked, tickling Adrienne on the belly and making her laugh. "She looks a lot like Meredith," he noted after a while of silent watching Cristina with her goddaughter. For just a split second, he thought that maybe, once he and Cristina could have a daughter of their own. But he quickly put those thoughts away, knowing it was way too early in their relationship to even imagine something like that. He had no idea if Cristina wanted kids at some point in her life. He wasn't even sure if he did. But the picture of Cristina playing with the little girl brought a smile to his lips

"Yes, she does." Cristina nodded in agreement, her hair and eyes had the same color as Meredith and even some facial expressions were really similar. "But she is attention seeker just like her dad," she added a few seconds later, causing them both to laugh.

"It's time for cake!" Meredith announced as she walked into the living room, holding a big pink cake with a big sign saying 'Happy Birthday Adrienne' on it and a candle in the middle. In the meantime, Derek took his daughter from Cristina's arms and everybody started to sing 'Happy Birthday'. The little girl couldn't be more excited about all the attention she was suddenly getting and happily clapped her hands.

Cristina took her camera from the table, waiting for Meredith, Derek and Adrienne to get to their position for a family photo. "Okay everyone, say cheese," Cristina ordered in her professional photographer tone and then took several photos of the happy looking family. With a little help from her parents, Adrienne blew out her very first candle and everybody started to clap. Then it was time for gifts. Even though Adrienne got a huge amount of beautiful presents, the wrapping paper interested her the most, however that wasn't unusual for a child her age.

"I'm surprised Cristina invited you," Owen murmured under his breath when he walked towards Jackson.

"Excuse me?" Jackson said looking up from his plate. The birthday cake was so delicious that for a moment he ignored the world around him and didn't hear what Owen said.

"I'm sorry. I guess I should've introduced myself first," Owen apologized and extended his hand. "I'm Owen Hunt. The Chief Editor."

"Jackson Avery," Jackson replied and shook Owen's hand. "But I assume you already know that."

'_Of course I do.'_ Owen thought to himself as he plastered on a fake smile. He knew very well who Jackson was. He was the reason that Cristina dumped him. Although, she didn't actually dump him as they have never even started dating, but Owen saw it differently. "I just wanted to say that I'm surprised to see you here," Owen said nonchalantly while taking another piece of the birthday cake and Jackson gave him a confused look. "Cristina knew that I was going to be here and despite that she invited you. Talk about an awkward situation."

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're trying to say." Jackson squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what the blond man was talking about. Why would it be an awkward situation? He didn't even know him, did he?

"You know… The whole dating us both at the same time thing. First she was dating me and then she started dating you… I don't know about you, but I felt pretty betrayed when I found out. I broke up with her immediately and I'm surprised you didn't," he explained and put a bit of the cake into his mouth, before giving Jackson another one of his fake smiles. "But I should've expected that. Apparently it was not the first time," he murmured quietly, yet loud enough for Jackson to hear.

Jackson's jaw dropped a little after what Owen said. Was this true? Was Cristina lying to him? The fact that she never mentioned Owen when she was talking about her colleagues made him a little nervous. "I'm… I'm sorry. I have to go," Jackson quickly excused himself and put the plate he still held in his hand back on the table and then quickly disappeared. All he left behind him was just a piece of unfinished cake and devilish smile on Owen's face.

It was short after 9 p.m. when all the guests started to leave the party. Adrienne was already sleeping in her bed and there were just a few leftovers from the food on the tables. Both Meredith and Derek were already tired and they were glad the party was coming to its end. "We're glad you came. See you on Monday," they said countless times as their friends left the house.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help you clean up?" Cristina asked when she and Jackson were about to leave too.

"No, it's okay. Derek and I will handle it somehow."

"Okay, then. Good night and see you on Monday," she said and smiled.

"Good night," Jackson said politely and walked to the car with Cristina by his side. They hadn't really talked to each other since his little conversation with Owen. He wanted to think everything through before he jumped to some hasty conclusions. They got to the car and Jackson immediately turned on the radio, trying to ease the uncomfortable silence that was about to happen. He didn't know whether he should believe that guy or not. He didn't know him. He had no idea what kind of person hr was. And yet there was something, a little bit of uncertainty when it came to his relationship with Cristina. They were madly in love with each other. Or at least he hoped so. But what if it wasn't enough? All these thoughts kept Jackson's mind occupied the whole ride and sooner than he realized they were in front of the building where Cristina lived. He stopped the car, still quietly staring in front of him, hesitating if he should ask Cristina the questions that has been bugging him for a while now or rather let it go and leave it for the morning.

"What's wrong?" Cristina's concerned voice brought him back to the reality.

"What?" he asked, pretending he didn't know what she was asking about. But of course he knew. She must've noticed his strange behavior. Anybody would.

"You didn't say anything the whole ride. You barely talked to me since the conversation before Meredith brought the cake. Did something happen?" Cristina began to be really worried now. She has never seen Jackson so quiet and thoughtful before and she had no idea what happened to him.

"I talked to Owen," he said casually and finally turned his head to the side, looking at Cristina, waiting whether he would see any change in her facial expression. Something that would tell him whether this Owen guy was telling the truth.

"So?" Cristina asked, not understanding what Owen had to do with Jackson's sudden change of mood.

"He said that... That you two have some sort of... history," he said the last word like it caused his mouth to taste foul. For his surprise Cristina started to laugh, making his heart hurt some more.

"I wouldn't call it a history," she said, rolling her eyes. "We went on a date once. Big deal." Cristina didn't understand why was Jackson making such a fuss because of one date. Especially since it happened before they met. She had no intention in dating Owen. Not before she started dating Jackson and definitely not now. But the look in his eyes made her think, that there was something he wasn't telling her.

"I heard a different version." There was a lot of bitterness in Jackson's voice and he had to take a deep breath before he was able to continue. He still didn't know what to think. Cristina acted like she had no idea what he was talking about, but maybe she just tried to hide the truth. He couldn't know for sure. "He told me you were dating us both at once. That he broke up with you when he found out about that and felt betrayed," he continued, getting angrier with every word that he let out. It sounded much worse than it did in his head. "And honestly, I can totally understand him. Because doing something like this... It's disgusting." He looked at Cristina, hoping that she would tell him it wasn't true and that Owen just made it up, but she sat there in complete silence, starring in front of her. That hurt Jackson even more. He hoped she would stop him and tell him it wasn't true, but she didn't.

After what Jackson said, Cristina wasn't able to say a word. She was stuck between shock and anger. How could Owen say something like this? How could he lie about that? Was it some kind of revenge because she turned him down? And why did Jackson believe him? She was asking herself question after question, not being able to answer to any of them. "You really think I would be able to do that?" she asked, finally looking back at Jackson. She felt tears of anger and disappointment building up in the back of her eyes, but she managed to push them away. There was no space for that. "That I would play with you two like you were dolls? Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

This time Jackson was the one who didn't say anything. Maybe he really should've weighed his words before accusing Cristina from something like that. But now it was too late for that. He couldn't take back what he said. He could only try to fix it.

"I think I should go," Cristina said, taking Jackson's silence as an agreement and got out of the car, walking towards the building where she lived. A few tears already escaped her eyes and she didn't want Jackson to see that. Especially not after what just happened between them.

"Cristina, wait!" Jackson yelled, immediately getting out of the car and following her. "Talk to me," he said, grabbing her hand to stop her from walking away.

"There is nothing to talk about, Jackson. You don't believe me. You let someone you don't even know to tell you that I betrayed you and you believed it." Huge tears were running down her face now and she didn't even care if Jackson saw them anymore. Just a few hours ago she was so sure about their relationship and suddenly it was falling apart in front of her eyes. "I would never do that and I thought you knew it." She turned her face away from Jackson, not being able to look at him right now.

"I'm really sorry Cristina. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions without asking you. I'm a moron." He nervously run his hand through his short hair, while not loosening the grip on Cristina's wrist. He knew that he screwed up. But Owen's words upset him so much, that he wasn't able to think clearly. "I should have never doubted you. I know that now. But what he said... He suddenly made me so insecure and I became worried that the only woman that I have ever loved could actually do something like that to me. Can you forgive me for that?"

Cristina's mouth dropped open and she froze for a second after hearing what Jackson just said. "Wha- What did you say?" she asked, her voice trembling a little, not being sure if she heard him correctly.

"I asked if you could forgive me for that," he repeated his last sentence, but Cristina just shook her head and he took it as a bad sign.

"No, you said that I'm the only woman that you love," Cristina said in a slightly softer tone whilst biting her lower lip. She definitely didn't expect something like that from Jackson, particularly now.

"Oh," it was just then when Jackson realized what he let slip out in the heat of the moment. He realized that his feelings for Cristina were something much stronger than just sexual attraction a few days ago, but there wasn't a right occasion to tell her that. He also thought it was probably too early for something like that. Ironically, when he finally managed to say that, it was in the worst and least romantic moment he could imagine. "It's true, Cristina. I love you. But I think it doesn't matter now. I disappointed you and apparently you don't want me anymore." Jackson finally let go off her hand and turned around to leave. He wasn't sure if he was angrier at himself for not trusting Cristina or at Owen for jeopardizing his relationship. Either way it would probably be the best if he just went home and tried to sleep it off.

Cristina still stood there in shock, trying to absorb everything that Jackson said. He was right. He disappointed her. And hurt her. But she didn't want it to end like this. Cristina didn't want their relationship to end at all. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing it would be now or never. "I love you too," she managed to say, trying to stop herself from crying for at least a moment. When Jackson heard Cristina's words, he turned back to her, waiting what was about to happen. If it was up to him, he would just take her to his arms and kissed her so badly that her knees would shake. But the expression on her face was still really angry so he decided that not doing anything would be better. "Aren't you gonna say anything?" Cristina asked impatiently. After what she has just said she expected many different kinds of reactions, but silent staring wasn't one of them.

"Aren't you mad anymore?" Jackson asked a little hesitantly.

"Of course I'm mad," she snapped angrily. "At you for doubting me and at that bastard who lied to you, trying to break us apart. Even at myself for going on that stupid date with him. But I'm not gonna give up on us because of one stupid fight, will you?"

"You're right. I won't," he said and confidently walked back towards Cristina, taking her face to his hands and pressing a long kiss on her lips. She wanted to pull away at first and tell him that one kiss wouldn't suddenly change everything, but when his soft lips brushed against hers, she couldn't stop herself from kissing him back.

"Don't ever doubt me again, okay?" Cristina said when they broke off the kiss and a small smile finally appeared on her face again.

"Okay," Jackson answered and then pulled her in for another kiss. He knew that he had to make it up to her somehow. Even if it would take thousands of kisses.

* * *

**I hope you liked this chapter and even though our favorite show is back now you won't stop reading my story and leave me some nice comments :)**


End file.
